Sora's Fate: Book 1
by TheBabs
Summary: Ceres tells Sora about the origens of the Heartless while Kairi struggles with Riku's baby inside her. Just what happened in the Secret Place?
1. Condemned

Sora looked up at the starry night sky, desperately trying to block out the noise of the city around him and to remember the sound of waves breaking upon a beach.  
  
More specifically, the beaches of Destiny Island, where he grew up.  
  
Instead of hearing the waves, he heard people running about and instead of the seagulls cries, he heard people yelling and shoving each other about. A young boy shoved past Sora, bringing him back into the world just as he finally saw the palm trees for the first time in four years. After the boy shoved by Sora, he looked back up at the palm tree which turned out to be nothing more than a street light. Sora sneered, looked both ways across the wide street and crossed, clutching his paper bag close to his chest.  
  
People are way too rude. He thought to himself, watching a fight erupt in an alley. He turned away quickly, so he wouldn't get involved. After all he went through, didn't he deserve to sit out of fights? He asked himself, trying to justify himself as he heard crying from the alley. Sora shut his eyes tight and shook his head to make the crying go away, and it did, at least to his ears. That's how it was in Twilight City, day in and day out. Well, in Sora's section at least.  
  
"Taking your time!" snapped a female voice ahead of Sora. There in the doorway of a small, shanty house was a short, stocky female with a no nonsense face. In her right hand she held a soup ladle while the other hand was on her hip, or what Sora assumed was her hip. He observe that her apron was clean, which meant that she was waiting for Sora to get there so she could cook dinner. Sora trotted to her and bowed his head in respect. The woman snorted and looked in the bag. 'I bet you were daydreamin' again, weren cha?" she snapped. Sora tried not to wince as the woman's acrid breath wafted down to him. "One day, yer goin to end up in the gutter with yer throat slashed because you weren't payin attention." She said, leading Sora into her home.  
  
Sora followed the woman obediently, without a word, and was instantly surrounded by a troupe of dirty looking children. They smiled at him with smiles that were missing teeth and breath as bad as their mother's. Each child tried to grab a hold of Sora, to drag him to play. Sora gently, and wordlessly, tried to pull free, but all of the 8 children were home today, making this more of a struggle than usual.  
  
"Dinkledorfs! Let him alone sos we can eat!" the woman bellowed, swatting the children with her soup ladle. Gertrude Dinkledorf was no woman to laugh at, but to obey. Any smile that she caught in her house by non- family members was questioned until the person was nearly in tears of fear or embarrassment. The kids scattered from Sora and he felt himself being towed by Gertrude into what they called 'the kitchen'. Sora had never seen anything look less like a kitchen in his life, because at night, the children slept in the kitchen with rags that served as blankets. The kitchen ran into the five foot wide 'living room' while that ran into the bedroom; all without a wall to separate any of the rooms. In the living room, there was a stairwell that led upstairs with the building's only bathroom. The landlord, Burrwell, had somehow made the houses so that they were all next to each other, but each tenant had to go u a flight of steps to a second floor where there was a small bathroom. At least 13 people shared the one bathroom, and it was only cleaned when one of the tenants decided to waste their meager pay on cleaning materials, then brave the stink long enough for the supplies to run out. This happened almost never, because the pay that the people had was used to keep themselves in the homes they had, as cruddy as they were.  
  
Sora placed the paper bag on the counter and turned to leave, but felt the back of his shirt be tugged roughly. He turned around, trying not to scowl at Gertrude. The woman tapped him hard on the forehead wit her ladle.  
  
"I need someone to keep an eye on these young'uns while I stir us up a messa sumthin, and that someone is you Sora." She snapped. Sora stared at her for a moment, then turned to tend to the kids. Gertrude pulled him back again, although, she was more gentle this time. "You stay for dinner too. The kids like yeh, can't imagine why tho." She grumbled. Sora shrugged and took a step away from her. "Donche got any manners? I said you can have dinner wit us? Cantche manage a thankya?" she bellowed. Sora grimached, then turned to her and bowed.  
  
"Thank you Ma'am." He said, barely loud enough for her to hear. Gertrude watched him for a moment, then shooed him off. She watched the odd boy for a moment. She knew that he would be turning 20 in a few weeks, but he still seemed boy-ish to her, but not as childish as when she first met him. Going into the kitchen, she began to make her soup, chopping the carrots Sora bought and preserving the rest for tomorrow night's meal, while cleaning parts of her kitchen and habitually keeping an ear out foe one of her children.  
  
'Fool,' she thought to herself. 'Sora's there to watch them. Odd boy though. Pity this city is finally beginning to take its toll on him.' She closed her eyes while stirring her soup. She remembered meeting him nearly six years ago. He was a thin lad, with hid hair forming a few large spikes in a few directions as if he fell asleep with gel in his hair and never thought to fix it when he awoke. He had been wandering around the streets, being shoved over by people while asking questions. She had seen he was about to approach Burrwell, and she ran to him and pinched his ear, dragging him off.  
  
'Cantchee tell he's not one to be talking to?' she snapped, releasing the squirming boy when Burrwell was out of sight. Sora rubbed his ear in pain and watched Gertrude warily, then he put on a bright smile and was about to ask her something when she whacked him on the head with her bag. 'There be no grinin at me boy! What disrespect! Didnnt yer mother every teach you nought' Sora looked at the ground sheepishly and said,  
  
'I'm lost. I can't find my friends or my way home.' He said softly. Gertrude gave him another whack on the side of his head.  
  
'I'd beat my boys if onenna them were snifflin round town, askin strangers for some kind'o pity! Yer a man aintche? Stand like one and be proud and don't ask if someone has seen yer momma!' Sora stared up at her and she remembered the smile on his face. She remembered how he promised her he wouldn't bother anyone with his questions the way he had. Looking down at her pot, Gertrude frowned and went to slice some potatoes for the soup. The next time she saw him, he was about to walk into a Daj Alley, where the most violent gangsters and ruffians took their victims for the beating of their lives. She caught Sora by the same ear and dragged him all the way home, tossed him inside and slammed the door shut and locked it. Next she turned on him, her face redder than a tomato.  
  
'What.kind of idiot are you?' she bellowed. 'Nobody goes there and comes out without both their legs broken and crying for their momma!' Sora looked surprised, then looked at the ground, apologizing for inconvenience her and thanking her for rescuing him. She sighed and dropped her bag on the ground. 'Well, since you no sense to stay outside alone, you can stay here till yer on yer feet and street smart, but ye need to be watching me kids while I work during the day!' she had said. Sora agreed, but said he wouldn't stay for very long, because he knew his friends would come for him.  
  
Now it was six years later and he had stopped looking for familiar faces in the crowds and didn't whirl around ever time he thought he heard his name. Six years had taken their damage on him. His semi muscular form was turned into tense muscle and his over exuberance was smashed into silent obedience. He no longer jumped to do a task with a cheerful 'don't worry about it!' and an attempt to get Gertrude a high-five; now it was a silent nod and a half smile. She sighed and returned to making dinner.  
  
Sora lurched to his feet with three kids on his back, one pulling his hair, one nearly choking him from pulling on his shirt collar and the third was pulling his ears. A small moan escaped his lips when a fourth child wanted to be held by Sora, right then. Gertrude came to his rescues when she bellowed for them to grab their bowls. All of the children abruptly leapt from Sora as if he were a leper to retrieve their bowls. Sora trudged after them and reached for his own chipped bowl when Gertrude stopped him.  
  
"Nai boy. Go lie down. When yer rested ye may eat. If I feed ye now, I'm afraid ye'll fall asleep in yer soup!" she said, turning Sora around and shoving him into the main bedroom. She sighed sadly. He was becoming how her husband had been when he was alive. Running all day with only two meals a day as his break, which was often consumed still running, and coming home dead tired, but with his work not yet done. She heard something hit the floor and she knew that Sora had collapsed. She wiped the tears from her eyes.  
  
'He's going to die, just like my old Roger. This city will kill him. It drags them about until they are too broken to fight back, then their lives are taken away as if they never meant anything to anyone.' The children looked up at their mother, worried.  
  
"Git back to work! Mara, Rog, Briar and Kiel! Youre going to the factory till morn. Don't whine like infants! I didn't raise no bebes! The rest of you are going to be in the Works tonight and make sure you count your pay!" she yelled.  
  
Sora, who was in the master.the only bedroom of the house, listened silently and felt ashamed. He had failed at fighting off the Heartless and he even failed at trying to help a single mother raise her children in Twilight City. He curled himself up and tried to keep his tears from flowing. His body was too weak to fight the gangs that followed careless people home and his will was too weak to fight back whenever he was caught by them. He only had to will to live each day to help the woman who was keeping him alive. Eventually, he fell asleep. Gertrude came in and left two bowls of soup next to Sora for him to eat when he awoke. She had given him her share, to keep him alive and with her for as long as possible.  
  
A hooded figure peered into the dirty window and saw Sora curled up against the cold. Slowly, he turned and left Hell's Alley and walked to the center of Twilight City; the most beautify part of town. It was lively and noisier than the part that Sora now lived in, but the noise wasn't as harsh. The people who lived here never knew or thought of the existence of the people like Sora who toiled all day for the services and materials they purchase. They wouldn't even care if someone sat them down and told them. They only cared that it was done. The figure walked in the middle of the street, and onlookers suddenly felt raw emotion well up inside them. Many burst out in tears and all ran. The emotion was fear, endless depression and hopelessness. By the time the figure got to Central Building, the streets and sidewalks were empty. The figure looked up to see the glass doors of the building and tilted his head up enough so his face was visible. The people inside fled, and no one noticed that the man walked with a blindfold tied tightly over his eyes. He entered and walked to the top of the building slowly. His company would not arrive for some time. 


	2. Freed?

//Chapter 2//  
  
It began to rain.  
  
People were already holed up in their homes when the rain began, or they were hard at work, too far from the unknown man to feel the raw emotions that infected the people around him. The man was now at the top of the Central Building skyscraper, looking down at a man wearing a similar raincoat.  
  
This new person had the same aura as the first, but did not wear a blindfold as far as a person could tell. He walked in the middle of the street as the first had, not fast and not slow, but with a purpose in mind. He was annoyed at the rain however. He hated that the world was so anguished at his existence, that the sky sent its liquid missiles to drive him away. It never worked. He paused for a moment, and from what a person could see, he had long, light brown hair that covered his eyes and pale skin.  
  
Suddenly, dark forms appear from the ground. The figure slides into his battle stance and pulls out two large weapons. Each were shaped like fantastically made keys, but were made to be swords.  
  
A third man in a red coat watched them, unseen and unknown. His short black hair had streaks of grey and his sunglasses were constantly spattered with rain. For some odd reason, his left arm was cradled in his coat, while his right hand was near his hip, with his fingers running over the hilt of his sword. He silently watched, apparently unaffected by the hate, fear, and regret that radiated from the second man.  
  
The second man suddenly whipped his two KeyBlades together so that they apparently locked together, then lowered them slightly, concentrating his energies. The first man looked up at the cloudy sky and took off his blindfold and spread his arms. The clouds dispersed and blue stars fell from the sky. At the same time this happened, a Heart symbol appeared around the second man, forcing the shadow creatures back. He looked up to the first man and muttered,  
  
'Where's Sora?' The first man looked down from the skyscraper, as if he heard, but did not answer. Instead, he walked backwards, away from the edge of the building and back inside, but apparently disappeared as he descended the stairs. The second man stared up at the sky for a moment, allowing himself to feel free from the oppressing rain, then disappeared as well.  
  
The shadow creatures did not follow either man. They shuffled amongst themselves and they seemed to talk to one another, but their language was incomprehensible. The man in red quietly walked away as the Shadow creatures dispersed, breaking their way into homes and terrifying the people inside.  
  
Sora awoke to Gertrude's yelling. His body jerked awake, then relaxed when her voice wasn't directed to him. He was drifting off to sleep again, then he heard a man say his name. The voice was deep and he didn't recognize it. Sora got up just in time to have something thrust into his stomach. Sora looked at the man, utterly confused, then at the object he was now holding.  
  
It was a giant golden key, the design much more simple than the ones the unknown man held earlier. Sora looked up at the man, terrified and even more confused. Now the man thrust clothes at Sora.  
  
"Get dressed. It's time to go." The man said. Gertrude shrieked and tried to hit the man with her ladle, but the man grabbed her wrist with his left hand, the one cradled in his coat, and pushed her back. Undaunted, she dove at him again and the man was forced to dodge her. Sora looked at the man, then at the Key, then at the man again.  
  
"How did you find this? How did you find me?" he asked, scared. "Who are you?"  
  
"There is not enough time to answer that. Get dressed. We need to move."  
  
"Yeh aint takin this lad from me home! He belongs here, where he's cared for!" she screeched, gasping for air.  
  
"I'm not leaving until you tell me who you are and why I need to leave." Sora said, trembling. The man sighed and shook his head.  
  
"Very well. I am Auron. Ex-guardian of Sumnoner Lord Braska and High Sumnoner Yuna, My reasons for coming here are to keep you safe and train you until you are strong enough to face the Heartless again." He said. Sora took a step back, but Gertrude guffawed.  
  
"Sumnoner? Heartles? What do ye take us for man? Fools? Leave you miscreant!" she yelled, brandishing her soup ladle again. Sora stared at Auron.  
  
"The Heartless are gone. I sealed them myself at least five years ago." He said hoarsely. Gertrude stared at Sora, confused. "I have the scars to prove it." He said, letting his eyes fall to the floor. Gertrude looked at Sora with wide eyes, remembering the first night he spent in her home.  
  
Gertrude had Sora living under her roof for about two weeks before he got into his first fight in Twilight City. He had fended off a gang from Gertrude but his reward was a broken nose and his shirt being sliced with many different knives. Gertrude dragged Sora into her home and locked the door tight. At that time, she was able to afford a tin tub and a bar of soap. She filled the tub and ordered Sora to wash himself. Sora sheepishly obeyed, afraid to make the woman mad at him again. He turned away and pulled off his vest and shirt. He stiffened as he heard Gertrude gasp behind him, then closed his eyes as she laid a hand on a long scar that ran across his back.  
  
She had seen his scars, his old scars from fighting the Heartless. He had only fought them for a year, but each scar had memories to it. The scar Gertrude was touching was given to him from Riku, when he met his former friend at Hollow Bastion.  
  
That scar ached, but Sora lied and said that he had fallen. All of the scars were from falls. Gertrude scoffed, but said nothing. If the boy wanted to lie about these scars, then he had the right to. He had earned that right that night.  
  
"Leave him be mistah. He's done more than any man should whose thrice his age." Gertrude snapped, wrapping an arm around Sora and moving him away from Auron. Auron stared at Sora with his good eye, frowning.  
  
"Believe me Madam, if there were someone else to take the job, I would spare him. But there isn't. I'm sorry." His eye moved to Sora's face. Sora was staring down at the clothes in his arms.  
  
"These are new." He said, staring at the black clothing.  
  
"Suits your new attitude, I believe." Auron retorted. "Change quickly, and then we must leave. It's not safe here...for you." He added quickly, looking at Gertrude. She was watching his face closely. Sora nodded and left to change while Gertrude began to bombard Auron with endless questions. He seemed relieved when Sora came back a few moments later. Sora looked up when Gertrude gasped.  
  
He was dressed in the same outfit as he wore as a pre-teenager, but the color scheme was no longer red, white and blue with large yellow shoes, it was now black, red and yellow with large black shoes. Gertrude's eyes widened in fear, finally allowing herself to realize that they were completely serious, that Sora was really leaving. Sora, seemingly reading her mind, hugged the woman tightly and smiled as she hugged him back.  
  
"I'd never leave you willingly Gertrude. You've been my mother for five years. I'm still in debt to you." He said quietly, so Auron wouldn't hear. He heard anyways, and shifted his weight from one foot to the other behind Gertrude impatiently. Sora ignored him and closed his eyes again.  
  
"Meh, as soon as you leave this city, the past five years will be wiped from your mind. And they should be. No one deserves to suffer all ye've been through." She hugged him fiercly, then held him at arm's length to look him over. "Ye've grown into a fine man Sora. Good luck be with ye." She said. Sora looked down at her and smiled.  
  
"I'll leave---but just to protect you and the others." Sora said, thumbing his chest with a fist. Gertrude smiled and shook her head with a short laugh.  
  
Auron snapped around, drawing his blade and suddenly, there was a dull flash of blue light.  
  
"They're here." He said, looking at the doorway. The door was blown off and there were Heartless outside, launching energy beams at the building. Sora gripped his KeyBlade and shoved Gertrude behind him. Nodding at Auron he ran out of the building, but a yellow light filled his vision...  
  
...there was a scream behind him...  
  
Kairi opened her eyes and sat up in bed. The cries of the seagulls had woken her up. The position of the sun told her that she had overslept--- again. There was a movement under the covers beside her as Riku sat up and wrapped his arms around her. She smiled as he said 'good morning' and felt at ease when he rested his head on her shoulder. She watched the sun climb higher before there was a knock at the door, signaling the two to get dressed and ready for the day. 


	3. The Reflections of Kairi

Kairi walked down along the beach, enjoying the mid-morning warmth. Breakfast had been short and pleasantly quiet, save Riku's mother's talk of her moving into the family, but she did that every morning. No one mentioned marriage, which seemed like too large of a leap, even now.  
  
Looking up at the sun, Kairi thought about the last time she saw Sora.  
  
It was through the fog that seemed to keep Kairi from going to Sora. It muffled noise and made her senses feel dull and her body feel heavy and weak. Sora was quickly falling away from her as she watched. He had yelled something, but she never heard.  
  
Then, water sprang between them, making her look down in surprise. When she looked up again, Sora was gone, but she heard the voices of Wakka, Tidus and Selphie.  
  
Kairi jumped as cold water began to swirl around her ankles and go inside of her shoes, soaking the inside.  
  
"Oh no!" Kairi wailed, hopping away from the water. She heard someone laugh and she turned, seeing two girls watching her. One girl had long, black hair done in braids, and wore a black dress, while the other had short brown hair and a white priestess dress.  
  
LuLu and Yuna.  
  
Kairi sucked in a breath, smiled and waved to the two. Yuna smiled and ran to Kairi. She forced to keep her smile; she really didn't want to have to talk with either of the girls. Unfortunately, she didn't really have a choice. Yuna's father was the one who had found as rescued her while LuLu's father, the Governor, found a home for her to stay at on Destiny Islands and made a welcoming for her.  
  
Kairi was jealous of LuLu; she had a gorgeous body, a wealthy father, a man she fell in love with (who she would marry in a few years as soon as Wakka got the Governor's blessing (good luck Wakka!)) and she had magic.  
  
Yuna was lucky as well. She had her own charm about her, once you got past the fact that one eye was blue and the other was green. Yuna was soft spoken, but had amazing healing and summoning powers.  
  
"Kairi, you've been daydreaming again." LuLu lectured, holding a moogle doll in her arms. For the life of her, Kairi could never figure out why a woman like LuLu would carry around dolls.  
  
"Do you remember the day when you found out how Wakka liked you?" Kairi asked innocently, holding her hands behind her back and tilting her head innocently. Yuna giggled and LuLu smiled at the possible change of subject.  
  
"Yes, wasn't he playing with your dolls?" Yuna asked. LuLu let out a rare laugh.  
  
"Yes, he went into my room and forgot to close the door. When I went back, forgetting my charm bangle, I found him using a cacutar as him and a moogle as me." She paushed, laughing again. "'Oh LuLu, kiss me!' " she said, trying to mimic Wakka's voice. Kairi laughed along with Yuna. That story never got old, no matter how many times it was heard. Wakka still denied that it ever happened, but turned a deep red every time he head it mentioned. He still insisted that he was going to leave a paopu fruit in the arms of one of her dolls and LuLu had caught him.  
  
"'Ey, I thought I heard my name, ya?" Wakke called, holding a blitzball under an arm and walking to the girls. Tidus was behind him, walking slower and smiling sheepishly at Yuna. He paused for a moment, then waved her over. Yuna ran over to him and waved to LuLu and Kairi. LuLu was busy teasing Wakka, allowing Kairi to sneak away.  
  
'They get to be with the men they love...wait, I can't think of that. What about Riku?' she wondered. What about Riku? Did she truly love him?  
  
Sora and Riku had been gone for three years, and every day they were gone, Kairi went to Yuna's father, Lord Braska, and begged him to help her scry for her two friends. He relented to her every day and for hours they would use the power of their hearts to look for them. One day, Braska pulled Kairi from their scrying early.  
  
"Kairi, we must accept their deaths..." he had said.  
  
"No!" Kairi screamed. She didn't mean to scream, but she was so amazed that he was thinking like everyone else on the islands—just to give up on them. "They would never give up one me!" she yelled. Braska sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. Kairi fell forward into Braska and cried. "They—they can't be gone! I can still hear their voices...they're far away but I can still hear them! Can't we keep searching?" she begged. Brasks held her close and shushed her.  
  
"No...the closest is in a world called Twilight Town. There is so much darkness there, that if we pursued their voices, we would be too far from our bodies to protect us from all of the darkness there and our bodies here would perish. I am so sorry Kairi." He whispered into her hair. Kairi cried to hard she was shaking, and then fled from Braska's home.  
  
The secret place. That was where Kairi always went to when she was troubled. Kairi turned and headed back to the shore and got into her boat and went to one of the smallest islands in the small nation.  
  
The water was calm and crystal clear and reached the island in no time. Selphie was juggling a few seashells, but dropped them when she saw Kairi.  
  
"Kairi! Hi!" yelled Kairi's childhood friend. Kairi smiled and waved. "Riku said that when your done, to talk to him. He's really worried about you Kairi." Selphie said, picking up her shells and not looking at Kairi. Kairi thanked Selphie and headed to the Secret Place.  
  
Inside the cave was exactly the same as she had left it, after carving a paopu fruit in her hand that she and Sora had drawn ages before. Kairi sat cross legged in front of the drawing and sent her senses out.  
  
Suddenly, she saw herself being lifted rapidly from the l\island and saw it disappear as she rose to other worlds. She saw a world made entirely of water, then saw on that looked like a garden. She was forced to stop over a castle almost slamming into Heartless Aura. It lay just beyond the castle that King Mickey had resided in and was beginning to close in.  
  
'Sora?' she asked, then suddenly everything changed.  
  
She was following a man in a red trench coat as a woman behind her screamed. In her hand she felt the weight of a KeyBlade, but the Heartless in front of her drew her full attention. Suddenly a blue light filled her vision....  
  
...Kairi screamed in pain and barely saw the outline of Riku trying to shake her awake...  
  
She had run from Braska's home in tears and ran to their secret place. It held so many memories of their past that it was the only place she found comfort. People had parted for her, allowing her to run by and felt pity for her, but went on with their own lives.  
  
Kairi didn't want to get in her boat, but it was the fastest way there and she fussed with the knots until they came undone. By the time she had gotten to the cave, she had made her way by memory, because her eyes were filled with tears and the way was blurred to her. She found the old drawing she and Sora did together and placed a hand on Sora's face...  
  
The scene shifted before Kairi's eyes. She was still in the cave, but Rikuwas now holding her up. She heard Lord Braska's voice through the fog.  
  
"Kairi, wake up! You must return to your body! You need to wake up from your dreams! I told you not to leave your body too far behind! You aren't strong enough for it! Kairi---!"  
  
She was gone again, but walking with Riku along the beach. He had emerged from the doorway when she placed her hand on Sora's portrait on the cave wall. He didn't seem terribly bad off, and was allowed by Braska to go for a walk with her that evening.  
  
"Kairi, I have always thought of you, even when we were children." He said, looking ahead. His hair was so much longer now and his skin was a deathly white. "Your face in my mind was the only thing keeping me alive for three years." He paused and looked down when he noticed Kairi had stopped talking. She had placed a hand on her throat and looked amazed.  
  
"Have you seen Sora?" she asked, trying to change the subject. What he was saying disturbed her somehow.  
  
"No. The only face I saw was yours. In a way, I am glad." He bent down and kissed Kairi softly, then pulled away. "Kairi, I love you."  
  
Three days later, Lord Braska made a sending ceremony for Sora's mother. From that day, Riku had been at Kairi's side.  
  
Kairi opened her eyes and tears flowed freely.  
  
"Sora...he's not dead...I saw him.." she passed out into a dreamless sleep and Riku looked off, furious. 


	4. Al Bhed in Traverse Town

Blue light filled Sora's eyes. He closed the to get the light away, but when he opened them, he was on the beach of Besaid.  
  
"Kairi, you mean more to me than anything..." Riku said. Sora looked up and saw Riku smiling down at him, but somehow he knew he was in Kairi's body.  
  
"I care about you too Riku." She said. Riku laughed at her, hearing her stomach grumble a bit.  
  
"Here," he said, handing her a fruit. Kairi looked up at him and ate the fruit, not paying attention to what it was. The flavor was unfamiliar to her, and she looked down at the fruit in her hands. It was half of a yellow star. She looked back up at Riku, surprised, and found him eating the other half. "We were meant to be together Kairi." He said softly. Kairi, unsure of what to do, finished eating the fruit, but felt completely foolish and she hated herself for it.  
  
Sora awoke, lying on his back in a strange environment. He heard the electronic beeping of an airship, and two people arguing in a strange language.  
  
[1] "Ra tuach'd muug mega y vekrdan du sa!" a male voice yelled. A girl huffed and said,  
  
"Lyh'd oui zicd dnicd Auron yht pa xiead Pnudran?" Sora sat up, recognizing 'Auron'. Suddenly, the world spun and Sora gasped for breath. The girl hurried to him and forced him to lay back down by pushing him gently on his chest.  
  
"Rikku, fa ryja fung du tu, cdub pypoehk res!" the man snapped. Sora sat up again.  
  
"Riku? Is he here?" Sora asked, hopeful and confused. The girl smiled sympathetically.  
  
"No, there is no boy named Riku here." Sora shook his head and pointed in the man's direction. His vision was blurred and the room continued to spin.  
  
"He said Riku..." Sora groaned, leaning back and closing his eyes tight. His hand fell and Sora's body felt heavy.  
  
"That's my name," she said quietly. "My name is Rikku." Sora groaned, then passed out.  
  
He woke up, several hours later, and saw Auron sitting next to him. Sora looked around and saw that they were no longer on an airship, but in a dimly lit room.  
  
"Where are we?" Sora asked. His voice sounded more like a croak of a frog than his voice. He coughed, then a glass of water was pressed against his lips. Sora drank, coughed, then drank some more.  
  
"It's Traverse Town! Don'tcha recognize it?" a female voice asked. Sora barely recognized the voice and looked at the speaker. It was a young woman with tanned skin with a mass of blonde braids on top of her head and spilling down around her shoulders. Her top was yellow, and Sora blushed when he noticed how little it covered; it looked more like a bra than a top. His eyes went sheepishly back to her face. The girl laughed at him, and ruffled his hair. "It's okay Sora, I get that a lot." She said with a smile.  
  
Sora started at her. "How did you know my name?" he asked, his voice still hoarse. "And who are you anyways?" he looked at Auron for help, but he in turn looked at the girl, his eyes unreadable behind his glasses.  
  
"My name is Rikku. It's spells with two k's. I guess your friend spells it with one. I'm sorry about him." She said apologetically, dropping her voice. She smiled and looked back into his face. "but we can find him I bet!" she added enthusiastically.  
  
A door banged behind her and Rikku turned to see a man with a mess of blonde hair carrying a tray being followed by a man with a blonde Mohawk, nearly covered in tattoos and earrings. The younger man was nearly screaming at the older man.  
  
"Hey Cid!" Sora hailed, waving. Cid grinned and turned from the screaming boy.  
  
"Knew you'd be alive boy. Too much spirit in you for the Heartless to get!" he paced the tray on a table between Auron and Sora, then grabbed the screaming boy's hair in his hand. Rikku covered her mouth with both hands and tried to detach the two before a fight erupted. By the time she was done, the boy was red faced and apparently cursing, while Cid grinned and sat near Sora. Rikku stomped angrily and faced Cid.  
  
"Why do you have to always be like this? Come on Brother!" she pulled the cursing man after her and slammed the door.  
  
"Sora, I hope you have a lot of patience in ya'. Them two are gonna help you defeat the Heartless. Well...my son will do the navigatin' and my daughter will help with the fightin'. And Sir Auron will be in this as well?" Cid asked, looking at Auron. The ex-guardian nodded and Cid grinned. "Ya never had a better chance in the world of winnin' boy!" Cid grinned, slapping Sora on the back. "Well, I gotta' be runnin the shop. See ya."  
  
Sora stared at Cid as he left, then sure that they were alone, he looked at Auron.  
  
"Those two are Cid's?" Sora asked, amazed. Auron nodded and took a piece of cheese from the try Cid left.  
  
"And not one with any sense among them." He said, and then ate the cheese. Sora watched him and looked on the tray. There were some foods he recognized from his previous stays in Traverse Town, but some of it was strange to him. He picked up a waffle stick surrounding strawberry filling. He noticed Auron was watching him as he stared at it. "It's called Pocky. That one is strawberry." Sora fought a smile, trying to imagine the straight arrow Guardian eating something as dainty as a strawberry.  
  
"So...Cid's kids? They don't seem to get along. With each other or Cid." He watched Auron's face, but Auron was as serious as the moment he met him, just slightly more relaxed. Sora assumed that it was because the Heartless weren't nearby.  
  
"Cid's methods of raising his children since his wife died are contradictory. He constantly tells Brother that he is lazy and inept, while not allowing him to become otherwise, and always treats Rikku like a baby girl, when she's trying to prove herself among others as a fighter. The conflict between Brother and Rikku is the same one between every brother and sister." Auron left it at that, and Sora noticed that three cubes of cheese and a stick of Pocky were missing from the tray. He looked up at Auron, who had taken up a cup of tea and was currently ignoring Sora.  
  
"Where are Donald and Goofy?" Sora asked. Auron looked down into his tea (yes tea, he's a recovering alcoholic, alright?) with distaste, still ignoring Sora. "So...what do we do next?" he asked again. Auron set down his cup and looked at Sora evenly, then seemed to make up his mind about something.  
  
"Sora, you know that small chain of islands you live on? The largest island, Besaid, along with the smallers, are not just one world. Just before your friend Wakka was born, the world split apart. The separate pieces of the one world became their own worlds. Your friends landed on one of the pieces. They've been there all of this time."  
  
"So they're safe?" Sora asked, excited. Auron calmly nodded.  
  
"I believe the one called 'Goofy' is in the Bikanel Desert with the Al Bhed. I've just gotten Rikku and Brother around long enough to pick us up from Twilight Town, but she is mentioning a character that seems to fit Goofy's description. Other than that, Brother keeps interrupting or Cid enters the room, and I'm not experienced in Al Bhed, but I think they're insulting each other from then on." Sora absorbed this.  
  
"How come he wasn't searching for me or Donald?" Sora asked, a bit hurt and agitated. Auron watched Sora through his dark glasses.  
  
"There are few Al Bhed that speak any language besides their own. Even if they understood him, they only recently began making AirShips, or Gummi Ships." There was a pause, and Sora said nothing. "If it makes you feel better, he volunteered to be the first to test drive the first Gummi Ship to leave that world. Unfortunately, he couldn't get permission or a translator for the trip." Auron stood, and walked to the door in slow, but determined steps. "But we found you on a world, so I volunteered to get you. Now all you need to do is find Donald." Sora nodded, and Auron left.  
  
Sipping tea, he looked around the room and realized it was the same one that he had formally met Leon and Yuffie in. It was the same one he, Donald and Goody had shared between saving different worlds and fighting in the Olympus Coliseum.  
  
"You're lucky; he's usually not nearly that talkative." Rikku said, sitting in a chair. Sora jumped, wondering when the girl came into his room. She continued talking, trying not to giggle at Sora. "He usually says a short sentence or two, grunts or nods." She explained. Sora nodded slowly.  
  
"Hey...Auron said that you found someone in the desert...?" Rikku thought, with a finger to her chin, then nodded.  
  
"Yeah! A tall guy with a green hat, weird pants and a goofy voice!" she said. "He had strange ears too. I thought he was a hypello at first, but they are only blue. I never got to talk to him, but he seemed like a fun guy!" she said cheerily. Sora smiled for the first time in ages and nodded.  
  
"Yeah, he's a good friend. I miss him..." he trailed off and looked away from Rikku. He did this for two reasons: one, he wasn't sure if he should be unburdening his feelings to someone he didn't know, and two, he found her extremely cute and her clothes made his eyes wander. Okay, maybe that was three, but two were also very good reasons for him to look at her again. He jerked in surprise and Rikku hugged him and ruffled his hair.  
  
"Don't worry! I promise Brother and I will help you find everyone! You just need a day to relax, then we'll head to Bikanel Desert and find Goofer!"  
  
"Goofy." Sora corrected patiently.  
  
"Right! Then the two of you can train in the desert for a bit while some of us Al Bhed look for Donner!"  
  
"Donald." Sora said, with a smile. He had to admit, she was really cute, which made up for her forgetfulness. Rikku kissed him on the cheek and got up.  
  
"Get some food in ya and take a nice sleep! I'll make sure Brother doesn't wake ya too early. Nite!" she looked down at Sora, smiling happily, then left. Sora took another good look, then ate the dinner that some refugee had made for him. It was made of some type of meat and vegetables, but Sora's mind was drifting all over.  
  
He was finally rid of that accursed City, Goofy was found, he had another team to help him find the Heartless and a way to finally know the history of his world, and an extremely cute girl to help him---  
  
'No, what about Kairi?' Cut in a thought. Sora sighed.  
  
'She's with Riku, he loves her and she loves him. Besides, they ate the PaoPu fruit...'  
  
'Is that fruit really magical, or is it some sort of dopey legend that we think has power? You know Kairi loves you...'  
  
'As a friend...she's had four years with Riku...'  
  
Sora shut his eyes tight and tried to block out the thoughts that were flooding his mind. Somehow, they left him, and Sora lightly snored.  
  
_______________________  
  
Al Bhed translation: [1] "Ra tuach'd muug mega y vekrdan du sa!" "He doesn't look like a fighter to me!"  
  
"Lyh'd oui zicd dnicd Auron yht pa xiead Pnudran?" "Can't you trust Auron and be quiet Brother?"  
  
"Rikku, fa ryja fung du tu, cdub pypoehk res!" "Rikku, we have work to do, stop babying him!"  
  
Authoress's Note: Sir Auron, Ex-Guardian to Summoner Lord Braska and High Summoner Lady Yuna, likes to munch on cheese and pocky! 


	5. Found Goofy! Vuiht Goofy!

A man with short cropped, white-ish blonde hair tightened a bolt on the outside of a hovercraft. His light hair contrasted against his dark skin. The man sighed, sat back on his heels and removed his shirt, revealing skin of a lighter tone. The man didn't appear to be embarrassed by his farmer's tan, but considered it normal since he began working longer shifts under the desert sun. Soon, all of his skin on his upper body would be the same color.  
  
"Gawrsh...sure is hot out today!" said a figure next to the man. The man grinned up at the figure through dark, goggled glasses.  
  
"I can see why Cid used to shave his head when we were kids. Having hair just keeps in the heat!" he told the figure. The figure laughed a strange laugh and fanned himself with his yellow hat and dropped his gloves on the green turtleneck sweater he had abandoned long ago.  
  
"Well Buddy, I'm glad I don't have any hair to worry about!" the figure laughed, putting on his goggles to help Buddy. Buddy laughed.  
  
"Said like a true Al Bhed. You say you used to be a kiynt, Goofy?" Buddy asked, using the Al Bhed word for 'guard'. Goofy nodded, making his ears flap back and forth.  
  
"Served under Gehk Mickey and Xiaah Minnie for mosta my life. Worked with Donald too, but Donald was a wizard...a..fewynt..." Goofy laughed, thinking about how seriously his short friend took his job.  
  
"And he's the other missing friend?" Buddy asked, checking the vehicle over. Goofy nodded.  
  
"Yeah, then there was Sora. Donno what to call him. He was a kiynt and a fewynt and a summoner...I mean a cissuhan." Goofy tripped over some of the Al Bhed words, but judging by Buddy's smile, he was getting better. Buddy wiped the sweat off of his brow and got on his hovercraft.  
  
"Next time, watch for rocks. A cissuhan eh...?" Buddy mumbled to himself. "Well, we have orders to meet Brother and Rikku at Home. I think they have someone to help us against the Heartless." Buddy said, kick starting his hovercraft. Goofy placed his clothes on his lap and got on his own craft.  
  
"Gawrsh...is it really getting that bad out?" Goofy asked.  
  
The worlds split apart, and Sora watched helplessly as Kairi slid away from him. She was gone quickly and Sora turned to see Donald and Goofy, who were sliding away on the own worlds. Sora ran towards Goofy, who ran to help Donald, after Donald tried to fly to Goofy. The distance was further than he could jump and he panicked. Goofy was unable to reach his friend, who was falling into the endless gap.  
  
"Tink!" Sora yelled, summoning a small fairy. "Help Donald!" he yelled, pointing into the void. Tinkerbell nodded and disappeared after the duck, then he heard nothing.  
  
The next thing Sora remembered was landing in an alley in Twilight City.  
  
Sora jerked awake from his dream-memories as the Gummi-Airship, the Centigrade, landed. Sora looked around dumbly and remembered what Rikku had said the night before.  
  
"We're going to visit Home first. I think your friend is there and we're going to need supplies for our trip, not to mention trade." She said.  
  
"Trade? Why trade?" Sora asked. Rikku smiled and gave a shrug.  
  
"To trade with the pieces of our world, to convince to people to let our worlds merge into one again." She said. Just then, Brother called Rikku and she left Sora again to rest.  
  
Brother burst through the doorway and looked down at Sora. Sora secretly wondered how the man was able to sport all the earrings, nose rings and tattoos that he wore all at once.  
  
"You awake? Let's go mywo-puhac!" He yelled, waving his arm, indicating that Sora should come with him. Sora stared at Brother.  
  
"What did you say?" he asked, completely confused by the man's language.  
  
[1] "Mywo-puhac! Lazy-bones! Ruf dra ramm lyh fa tabaht uh drec kio?" Brother yelled, storming out of the room. Sora got up quickly, put his shoes on and followed.  
  
Brother led Sora to the upper deck to a teleportation ring, then stepped on it. Brother disappeared just as Rikku came running down the walkway.  
  
"AHH! MYWO-PUHAC! You were supposed to take these!" She yelled, at the air. Sora noticed she was holding two large and heavy boxes. Sora jumped and took them from Rikku. "Oh, Sora! I don't mean you should take them! You're a guest!" she said, taking them back. Sora blushed, muttered something about 'I don't mind' and took them back. Auron appeared in the teleportation ring, holding Brother by an ear ring.  
  
"Mad sa ku! E'mm dyga dra tyshat drehkc!" he yelled. Auron released Brother, and Brother took the boxes. "Ajanouha rana dnaydc sa mega y lremt! I's ouin hyjekydun!" he yelled, apparently sulking and re- disappeared.  
  
"Dryhg oui, Sir Auron!" Rikku said, smiling up at Auron. Auron nodded slightly and looked at Sora.  
  
"Ready?" he asked. Sora nodded without a thought. He had been ready for 5 years. Nothing could stop him now. Auron nodded and stepped onto the teleportation ring, followed by Rikku, who winked at Sora, then Sora himself.  
  
Outside the Centigrade was arid, dry and painfully hot. Sora looked at Rikku and Brother and decided that their lack of clothes now made sense. There were people all around that resembled Rikku and Brother: tanned skin, blonde hair or a shaved head, some tattoos and piercings. The thing he found strange was that some people were completely covered, especially what he assumed to be children. Over where their mouths should be were nozzles that emitted some sort of steam, and Sora assumed that the younger children, or people who could not adapt to the heat, wore suits that cooled their bodies for them.  
  
Sora looked around in amazement at the robotics and the main building that was Home. Behind him, he heard a whirring sound, then "Sora!" Suddenly, the world spun as something large and heavy collided with Sora from behind and tumbled on the ground with him. Now on his back, Sora looked up at the thing on top of him.  
  
The figure had his hands placed firmly on Sora's shoulders, then hugged him tightly.  
  
"It's you! Gawrsh! You grew tall!" laughed Goofy, holding Sora and hopping from one foot to the other. Some Al Bhed were staring at the two, but they went on with their tasks. Some girls giggled and looked at Sora through their goggles, then walked inside of home.  
  
"I guess you found your vneaht, Goofy?" a voice asked. Sora was released and he saw Goofy nod to a man on an odd machine.  
  
"Buddy, I'd like you to meet my pal, Sora!" Goofy thumped Sora on the back, and Sora let out and 'oof!' No matter how old he was, Goofy was surprisingly strong. Sora shakily smiled and extended a hand. Buddy took it and gave it a shake. "And This is my buddy...Buddy!" Goofy said, while they shook hands.  
  
"Well, I'll leave you two to catch up on things. See you at tehhan!" Buddy waved at Goofy, then walked off, helping Brother with the boxes.  
  
"Teeay-ha-haahn?" Sora asked, trying to form his mouth to the strange word. Goofy laughed and slapped his knee.  
  
"It means 'dinner'. Gawrsh, I hope we can stay that long! I heard we were leaving after our special guest has arrived—I think that means you!" Goofy smiled, finally putting two and two together. Sora grinned. Finally! Someone he knew and talk about 'the good old days' and make everything seem real, instead of a bad dream.  
  
Tehhan, or dinner, proved to be interesting. Every Al Bhed met in a large mess hall and listened to announcements given by an elderly Al Bhed man. Goofy translated some for Sora, while Sora was amazed at what Goofy had learned. Sora looked across the table to Rikku and Auron, who seemed to be talking about something. Suddenly, Brother jumped in from behind, scaring Rikku and starting an argument. Buddy came and sat next to Sora, not bothering to hide a smile.  
  
"Don't worry, those two are always at it. Fydan?" he asked, holding a canteen of water. Sora nodded and Buddy poured some water into a glass and handed it to Sora, then repeated this for Goofy, and then himself.  
  
"Feae-deahn...water..." Sora repeated to himself. Buddy grinned at him approvingly, then all noise stopped when a young Al Bhed went to the head of the table and stood, to address all. Sora suddenly realized that they were seated at a special table, and wondered what made everyone there special.  
  
"Good ajahehk everyone." He greeted the hall. The man looked about 20 years old and had spiky blonde hair. Sora noticed that he wore an eye patch over his left eye and wondered what caused the injury. Looking around, he realized that the man had the attention of every female in the hall—even Rikku's. Sora looked back up at him and supposed that if he were a female, then he would be attracted to the man also. The man dressed well, and it was obvious that he had done no manual labor outside that day, and if he did, it must have been very little. "I have good hafc to share with everyone! Today the Fynneun of the GaoPmyta has arrived to help us in our quest to revive our world and make it one whole one again!" the man looked at Sora, with a wide smile. Sora felt a little anxious, then Buddy elbowed him.  
  
"He means you. He's calling you the Warrior of the KeyBlade." Buddy whispered. "Stand up." Sora stood and looked around awkwardly. The man saluted Sora in an odd way, and bowed. Sora tried to repeat, but felt like a fool. He heard a girl behind him giggle.  
  
"Ra'c cu lida!"  
  
Sora sat back down as the man continued. Ravenously hungry, Sora barely heard what the man was saying.  
  
"Different group will go to each section of our world and trade and make peace talks with the respected maytanc to convince them into making Spira whole again. We want more than anything for these talks to be a success..." Sora zoned out, then was jerked awake when loud applause began. The man had bowed and seated at the head of Sora's table, three seats away from Sora.  
  
At the man's sides, there was a white haired man, who seemed to be about 18 with a green headband and non-Al Bhed clothes, and on the other side there was a dark haired man with odd braides and a red suit. Both seemed to be in a deep talk with the Al Bhed.  
  
Sora jumped, suddenly noticing someone was trying to get his attention, and that there was food in front of him. He looked to his side and noticed that it was Goofy shaking him. Buddy was laughing a bit and shook his head.  
  
"You know Sora, I think you are the only one who finds Gippal's announcements boring." Buddy said, adding a type of sauce onto his food. Sora looked at his plate and noticed he didn't have a name for any of the food. He looked over at Goofy and saw his friend eating the food dry. Sora tasted the food, then dug in while Buddy filled him in. "He was mostly talking about your role in revitalizing Spira, then he noticed you weren't paying attention and talked about how the fiends of out world and the Heartless seem to have been becoming one." Sora looked up at Buddy, but he was gone. Apparently, someone had pulled him to the side and they were talking in Al Bhed very quickly.  
  
Sora dug into his food and before he knew it, the plate was empty. Sora wiped his mouth and drank some of his water, neglected in his sudden zeal of eating.  
  
"Excuse me, Master Fynneun" called a voice. Sora looked up and saw Gippal, smiling at him from his place at the table. Sora noticed that the two men beside him were just getting up, but were staring at him. "We would like to talk to you." He said, gesturing to a hallway. Sora looked at Goofy, who merely shrugged, then nodded.  
  
Following the three men, Sora noticed their clothing. Gippal dressed like a wealthy Al Bhed, or one whose clothes had not been dirtied yet, the white- haired man wore a richly made green robe over green pants, and the tall, dark man wore a red uniform. Sora shuddered when he noticed that his left arm and leg weren't real. The white haired man noticed Sora's grimace and gave him a soft smile. Finally, Gippal opened a large set of doors, guarded with Al Bhed gunners and allowed his company to come inside.  
  
The men apparently came to visit often, because the taller man took a seat in a red, velvet chair while the white haired man sat in a comfortable looking green one. Gippal sat behind a desk and placed his feet on top casually among maps, pens and plans. Sora merely stood in the doorway, looking awkward.  
  
"Welcome to Home, Master Fynneu. I'm sorry that I was unable to meet you when you arrived. These are my friends, Master Nooj from the Kilika Islands and Leader of the Youth League," he waved a hand at the man in red. Nooj merely looked Sora over, but didn't nod or smile at him. Gippal ignored this and continued, "and this is Master Baralai, from Bevelle and the Maester of New Yevon" Baralai nodded and smiled at Sora. Sora smiled weakly and bowed slightly to each man. Baralai and Gippal seemed amused by this.  
  
"Essedina lremt" scoffed Nooj. Baralai smiled at Nooj.  
  
"Don't be that way Nooj. You make me feel old, and you are barely three years older than me." Said Baralai. Sora stared. Nooj had looked about 35 to him, and Baralai looked about 18. How old were these men? Nooj noticed the look on Sora's face.  
  
"Certain...circumstances...tend to age some people in more ways in one. Maester Baralai hasn't had enough experience to really become a man." Baralai sat up straight and Gippal laughed.  
  
"Don't worry, they're always like that. Please, sit down Master Fynneu." Gippal indicated a blue couch next to Baralai's chair that curved with the wall of the circular room.  
  
"You can call me Sora." He said, sitting so he could see the three men.  
  
"Alright, then I'm Gippal. Call me Master and I'll throw you off of an Airship before you can say chyb." Gippal snapped his fingers and grinned. He pointed to Baralai, "You can just call him Baralai, right Bara?" he asked. Baralai looked at Gippal, and nodded solemnly, but with a small smile. Gippal jerked his head at Nooj, who looked at Gippal irritated. "And you can call him anything, as long as it's Nooj." Nooj looked Gippal over, with a look that said 'where should I stab him first?'  
  
"Weren't we going to finish our talk of reconstructing Spira?" Baralai asked. Gippal chuckled and scratched his eye patch, which seemed to be a habit when he forgot something.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, just wanted to break the ice..." He looked at his group, then began his talk.  
  
Half an hour later, Sora was led to his sleeping quarters. Goofy was already there, putting on a sleeping cap and crawling into a bunk. It didn't look as comfortable as his bed in Traverse Town or on the Centigrade, but it was a bed. There were two others, currently empty. Goofy climbed into the top bunk above his bed.  
  
"So...watcha talking about?" Goofy asked Sora, as Sora undressed.  
  
"Well," Sora began, taking off his shirt and dropping it by his feet. "They were talking about how bringing the worlds together would help each world and all, but I think they have some plan they aren't telling us about. I mean, Baralai is from this place called Bevelle, and he seemed all for it, but it sounded like he hadn't addressed any of this to his people. The same with Nooj." Goofy looked down at Sora, interested.  
  
"Didja get Nooj to talk to ya?" Goofy asked. Sora shrugged.  
  
"He said something like..." Sora frowned, trying to remember the words. "EAY- see-seeeay-deeenah lu-raeaym-te." Goofy laughed for a few moments. Sora looked up at Goofy, who had quieted. There was grumbling outside, and Sora guessed they were telling him to be quiet.  
  
"Aw, don't be upset Sora. He calls everyone a kid." Goofy said. Sora blinked, then got under his covers. After a few moments of silence, Goofy asked, "Do you know where we're headin' tomorrow?"  
  
"Well, I think we're going to check out this forest. They were saying something about weird creatures hanging around a lake. There was also a white and blue creature chasing off Al Bhed and squawking. Think it might be Donald?" he asked.  
  
"Donno...sure sounds like him." Goofy said. Sora closed his eyes and nodded sleepily. Soon after, Brother and Buddy came in and got into their bunks.  
  
"Tyshat Gippal." Hissed Brother. Sora didn't hear if Buddy replied, he was fast asleep.  
  
___ Read my other fics? Go to for updates and why your favorite has been neglected ^_^  
  
Sorry, I forgot to save the version where the Al Bhed sentences were translated ;_; 


	6. A Deep Crush While Finding Donald

Sora calmly looked out the Centigrade's windows while Rikku and Brother argued again. Auron was somewhere below deck, practicing with his katakana. Goofy asked if Auron always liked to be on his own, which Sora verified.  
  
"So Goofy, you're an expert at Al Bhed?" Sora asked, still looking out the window. Goofy looked up from the shield he was polishing at smiled at Sora.  
  
"Ah yup! Ask me anythin' Sora!" he offered. Sora turned from the window and rested his cheek on his hand and thought for a moment.  
  
"How about....friend...?" he asked.  
  
"Aw, that's an easy one vneaht!" Goofy laughed. Sora managed a laugh and shook his head. Goofy looked over Sora for a moment. "Aw, don't be so serious vneaht. After we find Donald, we get to go to your island first! Ain't it great?" Goofy asked. Sora's smile faded a bit.  
  
Back to Besaid? Back to Riku and Kairi...together? Sora shook his head mentally. How could he face that? It was hard enough as a foggy thought, but if he was confronted with the actual thing...  
  
"Awww don't pout kiynteyh!" Rikku said cheerily, hugging Sora from behind and giving him a tight squeeze. Sora felt his face redden, then redden more and Brother laughed at his face. Rikku rested her chin on Sora's shoulder, and Sora could smell a faint aroma of desert flower perfume Rikku had used earlier. She said something that Sora didn't hear, then tickled his sides as revenge. Sora laughed out loud and glared at Rikku, who had jumped away from him. "You should laugh more. I like your laugh." She said, with a sensitive smile. Sora blushed again and rubbed the back of his head.  
  
---  
  
Donald swam around in a relatively small lake, deep in thought. He rarely allowed himself to rest, mostly because of the attacks against him, and this swim was a welcomed break.  
  
As much as he despised the fighting, Donald couldn't have wished for a more beautiful world to be trapped on. The trees in the forest were a frosty blue, with the older trees tipped with white at the tops. Here was a mysterious path that appeared now and then in different parts of the forest, but never seemed to lead to the same place twice and usually led to fiends that tested Donald's magical strength. Because of this, Donald was nearly five times stronger then he was when he, Goofy and Sora had defeated Ansem.  
  
Donald sighed and went underwater.  
  
Sora. Goofy. It had been too long...even the beauty and mystery of Macalania wasn't enough to erase them from his mind, or heart.  
  
---  
  
"Well, where do you think Doland..."  
  
"Donald"  
  
"Right! Donald, would end up? Except for Sora, all of the pieces of our world seemed to grab everyone and hold them close, so I think he's nearby." Rikku suggested, leaning over a globe that showed the worlds, reconstructed as one. Sora had spent an entire day gaping over the 3-D globe, mystified that his world was so large.  
  
"Well..." he said, scratching the back of his head and watching the globe revolve. "What about that forest where some Al Bhed reported seeing a blue and white creature wandering around? Should we check there first?" he asked. Rikku looked at Brother.  
  
"Fro ycg sa? Oui hajan lyna ypuid so ubeheuh yhofyoc!" he snapped, looking out the cockpit. Rikku sighed.  
  
"Brother, if we didn't care about your opinion, I wouldn't ask!" Rikku said wearily. Sora noted that Rikku seemed to fuss over the happiness of the crew in general more over the past few weeks than she did for herself. He wondered what their arguments were about, but always decided not to ask. He knew Goofy understood, but he knew once he asked Rikku or let it slip that he knew, then he may get Goofy in trouble or offend her by not asking.  
  
Brother's yelling brought Sora back to the real world from his musings. Sora looked at the two Al Bhed, completely confused, then at Goofy who was pretending to polish his shield. Auron was bent over the globe, staring into it deeply. Sora wondered at what he was looking for, for the slightest of seconds, then his attention went to Rikku, who left the room, tears streaming down her face. Sora got up and followed her.  
  
"Brother, steer us towards Macalania Woods." Auron ordered. "I trust you know the fastest way to get there." He said. Brother beamed a bit at this recognition and sat in the pilot's seat, steering sharply to the right. Auron felt himself slide slightly, but he stood straight, then looked at Goofy. Goofy grinned back.  
  
"So...yer name is Auron, huh? I'm Goofy!" Goofy extended a hand, that Auron shook, but Auron said nothing. Goofy took this in stride and began to talk about how he met Sora, and his stay with the Al Bhed. He quiet seemed to scare Goofy, but Auron said nothing.  
  
--  
  
"Rikku? Rikku, what's wrong?" Sora asked, walking down the short flight of steps into Rikku's cabin. Rikku turned to look at Sora, then turned away, blushing.  
  
"Nothing, it's nothing you should worry about." She said, trying to keep her voice light and upbeat. Sora, who had spent 5 years in misery, saw right through this and sat next to the depressed Al Bhed.  
  
"Don't worry Rikku, you can tell me." He said, comfortingly. Rikku smiled up at him through her tears, then rested her head on his shoulder. Sora stared down at her, a bit confused, but was glad she had stopped crying.  
  
"You've been looking better." She said, running her fingers up and down his forearm. They were silent for a moment, and Sora found his eyes wandering. He turned away, blushing. "It's been hard, hasn't it? Living every day, not knowing if you were going to be killed and powerless to do anything about it." Sora didn't remember her moving, but Rikku was closer now and removing his black vest. Sora looked at her oddly, but she smiled and began rubbing his back.  
  
"You know, I came down here to comfort you..." he faltered. Rikku looked down and blushed, then jumped off the bed with Sora's vest on.  
  
"How do I look?" she asked flipping her hair and drastically changing the mood and subject. Sora smiled.  
  
"Fabulous." He said, then walked to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. Rikku stopped tossing her hair and found herself looking deeply into Sora's eyes. "Rikku..."  
  
"He hates me!" she wailed, burying her face into Sora's chest. Sora was stunned for a moment, but he held her close, for support, while she cried. "He says if it weren't for me being on the team, he wouldn't have to baby- sit me and he calls me useless and that I just take up room!" she sobbed.  
  
Sora looked down at her, a bit surprised. For years, he was told the same: he was useless, slow, stupid, a waste of space and air. He considered for a moment, that the reason she was crying and the reason he never did, was because his life was at stake about how he handled his emotions, and hearing it from a blood relative were two severely opposite things.  
  
"Rikku, I know if I tell you to ignore him, you'll say it's too hard...but I want you to promise me that you won't take the things he says to you to heart." He said, cradling her face in his hands. Rikku looked up at Sora, then nodded. Sora wiped the tears with his thumbs, and smiled down at her. Rikku managed a watery chuckle.  
  
"We will be landing soon. Brother has found a warp hole."  
  
Sora jumped, hearing Auron's voice. Rikku squeaked and jumped backwards into the wall of her room.  
  
"Sir Auron! Didn't anyone teach you to knock?" she asked, wagging a finger at him. Auron turned slightly, sized Sora up for a moment, then headed back to the cabin. He was gone for a moment when Rikku asked, "Should we go now?" Sora nodded and walked up the stairs. Rikku ran up behind him , then kissed him on the cheek. Sora nearly fell, trying to turn in the small staircase to look at her. She giggled and shoved him upstairs.  
  
"We'll be arriving in Macalania Woods in feefty minutes!" Brother bellowed, making odd hand/arm movements. Sora looked Brother over, then nodded. Brother's tongue seemed to be harsh at times, but then again, he barely knew a handful of Al Bhed words.  
  
Rikku pulled Sora over to where Goofy continued to tell Auron about their adventures, then sat down to listen. She looked up at Sora, and patted the ground next to her. Sora smiled and sat down.  
  
--  
  
"What the---uwaaaaaaah!" Donald yelled, as the crystalline path disappeared under his webbed feet. He heard a distant roaring, but it was barely heard over his loud cursing. The combined noise scared out some of the weaker fiends, but a Blue Element and an Evil Eye appeared.  
  
--  
  
Sora nearly fell out of the Centigrade, amazed at the beauty around him. The blue trees seemed to reach up endlessly, but the tips were white, making some of the 'sky' look like stars. He wondered how Brother was able to find a clear spot to land. Goofy asked Brother, and Brother simply said 'that's what I'm here for!'. Sora looked over at Rikku, who was looking away from Brother.  
  
"Come on! I bet'cha Donald is somewheres around here!" Sora yelled, grabbing Rikku's hand and running off.  
  
"Hey! Wait until we make groups! You stupid getc!" Brother yelled. Goofy simply jogged after the two, and Auron slowly followed. Brother sighed, and resentfully stayed with the ship.  
  
-- "Firaga!" yelled Donald, pointing at the Blue Element. At the same time, he was struck with a blinding attack by the Evil Eye. "Uwa-wa-wa-wa-wa- wa!" he yelled, slapping his eyes, trying to see again.  
  
"Gravira! Thundaga!" Donald turned, hearing someone yell a Gravity and Thunder spell, but his eyesight still hasn't returned.  
  
"Is this him?" a female voice asked. Apparently, someone nodded or made another affirmation gesture, because Donald heard nothing. "Doland, it's great to meet you! I've heard all about you!" the female said, shaking his wing, er, hand.  
  
"His name is Donald." Said a male voice. Donald barely recognized it, but then a third joined in.  
  
"Gawrsh! It's been forever Donald!" Donald yelled out, being suddenly lifted in the air and squeezed.  
  
"I've been blinded you dope! That stupid fiend made me blind!" Donald yelled out frantically. The girl giggled, and she said something to Goofy. Donald was let down, then a cold liquid was dropped into his eyes. "Hey!" he yelled, then started quacking in anger, until his vision began to come back. A familiar face began to form before him... "SORA!" he yelled, rushing to his old, young friend.  
  
---//\\---//\\---//\\---//\\---//\\---//\\---//\\---//\\---//\\---//\\--- //\\---//\\---//\\---//\\---//\\---//\\---  
  
Read my other fics? Go to for updates and why your favorite has been neglected ^_^ 


	7. Meanwhile with the Unknowns

A hooded figure walked down the streets of Twilight Town, rain pelting him in the back of his hooded head. There were people running and screaming, all because of the Heartless that grabbed them and pulled them down into their darkness.  
  
The man was not amused.  
  
He stopped, seeing a small girl running from a Shadow Heartless, holding a teddy bear close. The figure could feel the pureness of her heart, even though she must have been 20 feet away. She fell, and the Heartless pounced on her, and within moment, held up her gleaming heart. The girl lay on the ground in a coma-like state, jaw open and slack, her fingers still gripping her teddy bear, but loosely. The figure's frown deepened, and he approached the Heartless.  
  
The Shadow Heartless looked up and made a growling noise at the man, as if it thought he came to take it's prize for his own. In a way, he was. Drawing out his Oblivion Keyblade, the figure leaned back a bit on one leg, then whipped the Keyblade forward and released it, using his 'strike-raid' move. The Heartless was hit directly in his main body and disappeared. The Keyblade returned itself to it's owner's hand.  
  
A moment later, the figure helped the little girl stand, her heart now it it's proper place. The little girl smiled up at him in thanks, but screamed when she looked into his hood and ran away.  
  
She had felt his darkness. And it was stronger then the darkness of the Heartless.  
  
The figure sighed and stood, then walked down a few side streets where the Heartless seemed to crowd more in. People were screaming here, just like in every other place, but there was more fighting back. The figure was surprised, because the people who lived in this area had less to live for than anyone else he'd seen previously.  
  
He turned, seeing a stout woman beat away the Heartless from her door with a steel ladle. Intrigued at her resolve, the figure walked towards her. She definitely had willpower, and her heart wasn't completely blacked with darkness, nor was it full of light. He guessed she was one of the Medians, and decided not to bother himself with her. He turned away, but felt something tug behind him.  
  
The figure turned and saw the woman losing even more ground. With a sigh and a small shake of the head, he walked towards the Heartless, grabbed two by their arms and squeezed them tightly in his arms. They faded into nothingness and their tainted hearts flew away. The woman gripped the area over her heart in exhaustion and wiped the sweat from her brown with her other hand.  
  
"Thank ye boy...I s'ppose I owe ye?" she asked, ignoring the fact that other people were being attacked. The figure looked down at her. Anxious, she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "Ye have a name boy?" she asked. "Lemmeh see yer face at least!" she demanded. The figure tilted his head a bit, happily confused. She wanted him to take his hood off!  
  
Slowly, the figure raised his hands towards his face and ran his fingers over the lining of his hood. Gertrude gasped as he pulled back to hood to reveal a pale face and dark, spiked hair.  
  
"Sora!" she gasped, walking towards him. She reached out to touch his face, then pulled it back. "You...look just like him." She said, feeling a bit foolish. Of course this wasn't Sora! Why would he hide his face from her?  
  
"Where's Sora?" his husky voice asked. Gertrude was reminded of the noise the newspaper made when blown across the street.  
  
"Yeh missed him, he's gone with some...Aur'n or sommat." She said. The figure pulled the hood back up, to hide his face again, then walked away. "Who are yeh?" she called. The figure stopped.  
  
"I...am his shell..." he said quietly, then continued his walk, through the Heartless and past helpless people. Beneath him, he felt the world begin to collapse.  
  
- - - -  
  
The second figure replaced his blindfold and exited the main building into the street. The Heartless seemed like they were nearly done with their work, but something felt wrong to him.  
  
The figure traced the steps that the other man walked, stopping once at where the girl had lain with her heart gone, then moved to Gertrude's shack. Standing outside the doorway, he felt that a great Darkness had been there. Cautiously, he knocked on the doorframe. Gertrude rushed to the door and looked up at the man, wearing the same coat as the last.  
  
"Where do you men come from?" she asked, exasperated. The figure tilted his head down at her. Gertrude wondered if the man was blind, but decided not to ask.  
  
"Sora...is gone?" he asked. Gertrude opened her mouth to answer, but the figure walked in and silently went into the room where Sora slept.  
  
"Yeh can't do that! Get out of here you freak!" she screeched as the figure picked up Sora's abandoned clothes. The figure carefully turned over his shirt, then picked up one of the shoes.  
  
"Cold...he's gone." He said, as if it were final, then nodded his head and put the clothes back down. Nimbly, he dodged Gertrude's sudden attack and picked her up by her arm and shook his head. "No harm from me, only protection." He said, in a voice barely above a whisper. "Family gone, must preserve a few..." Gertrude gasped.  
  
"My kids...?" she asked. The figure nodded, then glowed a white color. Gertrude screamed in anguish and in fear...  
  
...then dropped to the ground. Voices were around her and she was quickly helped to her feet.  
  
"The Preator will thank you Riku," said a male voice. Gertrude looked around and found herself in a heavenly place. The people were dressed in bright colors, and from the looks of things, she was outside the temple.  
  
"Welcome to Bevelle!" said a child before her, holding up a new set of clothes. From the looks of things, the people had expected newcomers to appear. Gertrude numbly took the clothes, then held them to her close and began to shake. The child looked up at the figure as he placed a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Family is...gone...mostly..." he said, and gestured behind her. Gertrude turned and saw her youngest children and ran to them to embrace them. Her oldest four were missing.  
  
"Riku, did you find your friend?" the child asked. Rikku tilted his head down towards the child.  
  
"A half." He said, then walked into the temple of Bevelle.  
  
--- This is sort of a 'meanwhile' chapter. The events here begin about an hour or so after Auron takes Sora from Twilight Town/Twilight City. The Praetor can't thank 'Riku' personally, because he is currently in a meeting with Gippal and Nooj a few days before Sora is in Bikanel Desert. 


	8. Going Home

Sora sat reclined in the window of the Centigrade, listening to Rikku give Donald all of the details of how the Heartless had returned up to where they found him. Donald nodded slowly, piecing together what Rikku had said and looked at Sora.  
  
"Uwaaaah....Sora, you haven't seen the King have you?" Donald asked tentatively. Sora shook his head. Donald sighed and paced around the Centigrade's glowing globe, then poked the part where he was found. "Sooo....there are worlds that are really this big?" he asked. Auron stepped forward and nodded.  
  
"Not too long ago the world looked like this, but the whole is still missing. There was a war and most of the world split apart. When the Heartless came, the remainders were broken apart." Auron informed. Sora thought for a long moment.  
  
"So...since the war was so long ago, the worlds Donald, Goofy and I went to could be part of it?" he asked. Auron slightly turned his head in Sora's direction while everyone gave Sora their full attention. "Well, remember Agrabah? That could be part of the Bikanel Desert..." he paused. "But that doesn't make sense. Why would the capital part of the world break away from the rest?" he asked. Auron and Brother seemed to bristle at this, Auron wasn't as noticeable as Brother, who began ranting in Al Bhed. Rikku looked behind her in surprise, then smiled and sat besides Sora. Sora moved his feet to make room for her.  
  
"You know, you're kind of rushing into that assumption. There could have been plenty of deserts in the world." She informed him. Sora was staring at Brother, who was yelling at no one and throwing his arms around. "I think he thinks you were insulting the Al Bhed by talking about the desert that way." She said softly.  
  
"Ah! I didn't mean to Rikku! Really!" Sora held his hands up, afraid the Al Bhed girl had a trace of her brother's temper. She laughed and kissed his cheek, then got up.  
  
"I believe you Sora. Brother just jumps whenever something about the deserts are questioned. Anyways, the Centigrade has detected some of the Islands. We have to convince them into rejoining us before anyone else. Gippal's orders I suppose." She shrugged and tried to calm Brother enough so he could navigate the AirShip.  
  
Sora watched her go, then looked at Donald, who was apparently grinning. Goofy was stifling a laugh. He was about to ask why they were so happy, then he remembered. He couldn't handle himself well around girls; he always blushed a deep crimson, except if they were older. Rikku was his age, and cute. His face was red. That's why she smiled too.  
  
"Leave me alone!" he snapped, and went into his cabin. Auron watched, bemused.  
  
-------------------------------------- --------  
  
"We'll be landing in 15 minutes! Man your weapons and ready your magic in case there are fiends!" Rikku's cheery voice cautioned over the speakers. Sora sat on his bed, holding his KeyBlade. He looked into the distance with a thin smile.  
  
Home.  
  
He was heading home in a mere 15 minutes. His Island, where he had fought to go to for over 6 years.  
  
He shuddered suddenly, as if a cold breeze had come in. Why was he nervous? Was it abut seeing Kairi again? He wondered about his old friends, how they would have changed—if Riku had been there while he was gone.  
  
He shuddered again. Rikku and Riku. They both meant so much to him, but in different ways. Riku had always been his childhood rival in everything. They had grown up together, laughed together and fought together....and loved the same girl...  
  
But Rikku. He had only known her for a few weeks---weeks! Not even! It had been barely two since they first met, but he felt himself falling into her swirling green eyes every time he looked into him. He wanted to just relax when she was near, but the danger at hand kept him from doing so. He hoped she didn't think he wasn't interested in her.  
  
Was he? Didn't he still love Kairi?  
  
"---landing! Sora, where are you?" Rikku's voice jolted Sora into the real world. The whole ship shuddered as it passed through clouds and landed on uneven ground. Sora ran to the cabin. Everyone was there, waiting for him. Sora's head tilted a bit in confusion.  
  
"We think you should go first Sora." Goofy explained.  
  
"Yeah! You've been dying to be here since we met you!" Donald added.  
  
"It wouldn't be right if you didn't go first Sora," Rikku said, walking to Sora and taking his hand in both of hers. "Don't be nervous. The Heartless haven't been here, everything is the same except they've gotten older." Sora was too dizzy to ask how she knew, but he let her lead him to the teleportation pad.  
  
"Rikku?" he asked, pausing before stepping on the device. She smiled at him and tilted her head quizzically.  
  
"Yea Sora?" she asked. Sora tried not to stare into her green eyes, but at her smile. Her happiness seemed to rub off and he smiled back.  
  
"I don't think we'll need the weapons." He said, then disappeared.  
  
-------------------------------------- --------  
  
"Ohhh...your hair is so pretty LuLu!" Yuna moaned. LuLu smiled as she finished one of her long braids. When she was finished, she leaned back into Wakka's who was tossing his Blitzball to Tidus. Wakka held the ball in one hand, then threw the other around LuLu.  
  
"You'll watch us play later, ya?" he asked apprehensively. LuLu smiled up at him and nodded.  
  
Kairi felt jealous of her two friends. Tidus, with his eccentric Blitzball uniform was holding Yuna, who wore a sky blue skirt that reached to her knees and a soft white shirt that barely hung from her shoulders. LuLu wore black, per usual, but her skirt was designed after her dress; the bottom made of belts.  
  
Kairi was still wearing her blue and white school uniform. She and Yuna were the youngest of the group, along with Selphie, who still had to go to school. Lately, she spent more time there. A part of her wondered if she did so to avoid seeing Riku.  
  
She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice when Riku sat next to her and dropped a coconut in her lap. She shrieked when feeling the hairy weight and dropped it. The group laughed at her while Riku picked it back up and playfully tugged her hair.  
  
"Forget tonight? It's Coconut Credenza." He smiled down at Kairi. "What would you like carved in your coconut?" he asked, brushing her hair away from her face. Kairi blushed and looked at the sand.  
  
"A monkey?" she asked. Rikku and Tidus laughed. Wakka was sneaking off with LuLu, and was already out of earshot of the group. Tidus called out to them, making Wakka turn and give him a gesture which Tidus laugh off. Suddenly, there was a roar, then a moment later, Selphie came running and yelling to the group.  
  
"Where's Wakka and LuLu?" she yelled. Tidus pointed. "Get them!" she panted. Tidus paused, then jogged after the couple.  
  
"What's wrong Selphie?" Kairi asked, concerned. Selphie sucked in air, then grinned at the group. "It's a surprise you'll love!" She said, then took Yuna's and Kairi's hands and ran back to where she came from. Riku put his black and yellow shirt on and waited for Tidus and the others to get back before he followed.  
  
-------------------------------------- --------  
  
Selphie finally released the girl when they arrived at the docks and flung herself at a man talking to Lord Braska and Governor Gyver. He laughed and hugged the girl. Kairi and Yuna had stopped walking as they absorbed the scene:  
  
A large, black and blue machine was sitting on the edge of the shore; a group of people were walking towards the figure Selphie was hugging....  
  
Kairi gasped as Yuna squealed and ran towards her father. Lord Braska smiled at his daughter, excused himself and met her, then took her down to the shore. Kairi followed, numbly aware that the sun was hotter here than were she and her friends were before and that her feet were now in the ice cold water.  
  
"S---Sora?" she asked cautiously. The man looked down at her and smiled hesitantly. His hair was spiked in all directions, his skin was pale and his clothes dark, but his eyes were kind...and looked like they have found something they were searching for, for many years. Suddenly, she began to cry, and just as suddenly realized that the rest of the group had caught up and everyone was watching her cry.  
  
"Hey man," Riku greeted, wrapping an arm around Kairi before she could hug her long-lost friend. Riku's eyes were icy as they looked into Sora's. Kairi shuddered as Sora's turned to steel and focused only on Riku. A tan, lean and scantily clad girl tugged on Sora's arm, smiling happily as if she didn't notice the two boys' silent fight.  
  
"Sora, you're home! This is what you always wanted, wasn't it?" she asked, looking around.  
  
"Wh---who are you?" she stammered. Kairi found that her voice was small and didn't even sound like her. The girl smiled and stuck out a hand, which Kairi gingerly took.  
  
"I'm Rikku, glad to meetcha!" she said, energetically shaking Kairi's hand. Kairi feebly smiled back.  
  
"Kairi, I'm glad to see you again," Sora told her. Kairi was amazed at how deep his voice was. Governor Gyver cleared his throat and welcomed the travelers, and introductions were made.  
  
----  
  
"This year, the Coconut Credenza will have a new celebration theme! Instead of celebrating when the coconuts are the ripest, we will celebrate when our Sora has returned to complete his Quest to resurrect our world!" Gyver announced that night.  
  
The whole island was on Besaid around a large bonfire. The older men had carved totems, the married men had already carved their coconuts and built the temple that would be burned down after each token of bad luck was thrown into it, and the youngest men made the tokens that would be burned. Some people muttered, wondering what Gyver meant about 'resurrecting their world', but they cheered for the celebration and filled the night with dancing.  
  
Each youth had talked to Sora, marveled at his battle scars and asked about his adventures with Donald and Goofy. The older men were more interested in hearing about the battles than the youths; the youths liked seeing Sora give examples of his fighting techniques.  
  
Around midnight, while all children under 15 were asleep, the couples dispersed to celebrate in their own fashion. Kairi left Yuna and Tidus, who were talking to Lord Braska and Auron about their lives before Auron brought the three to Besaid. She was interested in that her Lord Braska and two best friends weren't from Besaid, but knew her friend would fill her in later.  
  
"Kairi?" Kairi turned to see Sora standing on the shore. He wore the same small smile as the one when he first saw her. She wondered if that was the extent of happiness he could show. Nonetheless, she walked to him. "I've been dreaming of staring at the ocean for six years. It seems so long since I've been here...more than six years...maybe sixty. I miss the way things used to be." He sighed and looked out into the ocean, although all one could see was black sky on black water. Sora didn't seem to mind.  
  
"Sora?" she tugged on his sleeve. Sora looked down at her. It disturbed Kairi at how his eyes were no longer innocent, but she took her chance. Sora's eyes widened when Kairi kissed him, and held the kiss. Slowly he closed his eyes and held her. Sora didn't ask why she stopped, or why she started crying. "If Riku finds out....we're supposed to be getting married next year..." Kairi sobbed and looked up at Sora. "...because we lived together for so long..." Kairi stopped when Sora held her head in his hands and looked into her eyes seriously. The dying bonfire illuminated his face oddly, and suddenly a part of her was scared of him. In the dying light, his face showed all the pain he had endured for the past few years.  
  
"Kairi, can't you see that even if we were together, I can never be truly happy again? Everything I've done, everything I've failed at, endured, suffered through...I can never forget it, no matter who I'm with." He sighed, then forced a smile. "I've been dreaming of this for years Kairi, but now it's pointless to even have a scrap of hope." He paused, then kissed her briefly, then left her on the beach. Kairi touched her lips with a shaking hand, then fell to her knees in the water, not caring that she scraped her knees on seashells, or that Riku walked past her to Sora. 


	9. Sora vs Riku

Sora heard something faintly behind him, and if he hadn't spent the past six years in Twilight City, he would have never turned around. As it was, his senses were screaming and he ducked and swung at the last possible instant.  
  
Riku's fist barely missed the top of Sora's head, and then the youth doubled over in pain as Sora's fist connected with his softening stomach. Riku groaned and stumbled back, resenting that he'd allowed himself to fall behind in training the past year. He straightened and put his fists up and dove after Sora, who was already in his fighting stance.  
  
---  
  
"You must come back with me." A man in a hooded black raincoat turned to look at the one who was speaking to him. The voice angered the man, and two KeyBlades slid into his hands. The one who spoke, who wore a blindfold stood calmly. "Why do you fear me Sora?" he asked.  
  
"I'm not Sora! Stop calling me that!" the first figure snapped. The second sighed inwardly.  
  
"Then why else do you wield the Oathkeeper KeyBlade?" he asked, indicating one of the KeyBlades 'Sora' held. 'Sora' growled. "Or is that why you must see him? So he can keep his promise to his Kairi? But you know, you would not even be able to wield it if you weren't him. The promise was made to Sora, and Sora alone. It would not respond to another. The Oathkeeper should be....just a paper star in the hand of anyone but him."  
  
"Lair! It's because I'm a KeyBlade Master! KeyBlade Masters should be able to wield any KeyBlade!" 'Sora' shouted. The blindfolded figure did not respond. In anger, 'Sora' dove forward and struck out...  
  
---  
  
"Sora! Riku!" The boys, now young men, or were they full grown?, did not turn at the sound of Lord Braska's voice. Lord Braska was attempting to run to them on the beach, but his Summoner robes and shoes made it difficult to move in the sand.  
  
"You won't take her from me." Riku growled, taking a swing at Sora. Sora grabbed the fist and shoved his old friend back in a surprise move. Riku stumbled and was quickly brought to his knees.  
  
"I wasn't trying to Riku." He hissed angrily. Sora felt strange, and he hated this feeling. Anger welled up behind his eyes and there was a pounding sensation. The pounding was the rushing of blood and the beating of his heart. This feeling accompanied him almost every day in Twilight Town, but instead of tiring him as it usually did, it made him excited and fueled his anger even more, shoving away sleep.  
  
Sora brought back his fist and struck Riku in the face twice before Riku managed and hit Sora in the neck. Gasping for breath, Sora released Riku and retreated several steps, watching the silver haired boy warily. Riku wiped away spit and blood from his mouth, and watched the silhouette of his long-time rival as the fire died.  
  
The fire was even lower now, casting long shadows and reducing it's aura of heat. Sora felt his senses heighten as the familiar darkness surrounded him, while Riku began to feel weak as his eyes were unaccustomed to such dark. The light haired boy quickly shoved away every experience he had ever gained while in the world of the Heartless to rashly and would soon be helpless when the flames became nothing more than glowing embers. He shuddered unwillingly as a gust of air yielded no heat from the flames. The next extinguished the fire.  
  
Now the two were grappling in the sand, pulling hair like children, biting like dogs and striking at each other like madmen. Kairi was watching, with tears flowing freely down her face. Braska stopped near her, panting for breath.  
  
"Stop them!" Kairi begged. "Please, Lord Braska, stop them!" Kairi cried helplessly, tugging on the Summoner's arm. He nodded, took a deep breath and started after them again.  
  
Now Riku had the advantage, and was twisting Sora's arm behind his back. Sora cried out in pain after Riku gave a painful twist out of spite. Once again, Sora's senses screamed and he kicked Riku below the belt and rolled away as Braska used a Binding Spell. Sora deflected it with Reflect, saving Riku and himself from capture.  
  
"No, I have too much to say before anyone interferes." Sora growled, then pounced on Riku as he stared at his friend in surprise. Riku, now flat on his back tried not to whimper as his face was being pummeled by his once gentle friend, Sora.  
  
---  
  
The blindfolded man dodged the attack, barely. His right sleeve now had a long rip in it where 'Sora' had passed him.  
  
"Stop this." He said, half begging, half commanding.  
  
"Never" the attacker growled. "Never, until you show me where Sora is and let me alone!"  
  
"We would do it immediately, if you would accept the truth." said a new voice. Both figured turned to face the newcomer, who had been watching the whole time. Clad in red, he stood out against the surface of the dying world. Twilight City was reduced to a mere street and a single building that was collapsing into an endless void. The red figure turned to the blindfolded man. "Riku, they're fighting in a dangerous manner. We will have to forward out plans if Spira is to be revived. And this can only be done if our Sora will cooperate." He turned his head to the other man.  
  
"But Sir, what of the leaders of the Machina Faction, The Kilika Youth League and New Yevon?" the blindfolded Riku asked. The man in red turned his attention back to Riku.  
  
"Our current mission must be completed at once Riku. We cannot worry about the Yevonites and the Al Bhed just yet."  
  
"But Sir Auron---" Riku protested. The man in red turned away from Riku and looked into the abyss.  
  
"The longer we wait, the more we expose other planets to this. We need to get you four together so we can secure Spira, then find other worlds to fill in the gaps that can never be revived."  
  
"This is all too much for me." Sora said, taking a step away from the two. 'Sir Auron' ignored him, but Riku turned to Sora.  
  
"You can't leave the same way you came. Now that you suspect who you truly are and what the powers you possess can or cannot do, your teleportation powers won't work unless you train to merge with someone who already has the knowledge. As it is, we don't have the time to teach you, and the three of us are incompatible matches, so there is no use trying that just yet." Riku took a breath. "And the world is crumbling around our noses, so if you wouldn't mind, I would like to leave."  
  
Sora nodded, forgetting that Riku was wearing a blindfold and held his breath for an unknown reason. Suddenly, he realized that Auron was humming a tune. After a moment, he realized that Riku was humming it as well. Without even realizing it, Sora closed his eyes and hummed along, wondering how he knew how the song went.  
  
---  
  
"This is for everything you've done Riku!" Sora yelled at the top of his lungs as he struck at Riku. Riku tried to fight back, but a year of wooing Kairi towards marriage did not help him with his fighting.  
  
"What've I done?" he managed to gasp, when Sora leaned back to take a breath. This apparently fueled Sora's anger and he struck harder then before but not as much. Each punch punctuated his words.  
  
"What. Have. You. Done?" he bellowed. Riku's body shook with each blow. "You sold me Riku! We were best friends and you sold me to the Heartless! You turned your back on me in Traverse Town for Malecifent, almost killed me in Hollow Bastion when you gave yourself up to Ansem and to top it off, you tried to kill Kairi and sell me to the Heartless!" The blows stopped and all that could be heard over the crashing of the waves was Riku's gasping.  
  
"Tried to sell you over to the Heartless? Looks like I succeded. Nothing here is darker than you Sora." Riku retorted, then instantly regretted it. Sora's eyes widened and he jumped off of Riku like he was a live wire. Slowly, he looked around as he realized that everyone that hadn't gone to bed was now watching them. Sora looked up at Wakka, his best friend and mentor and was ashamed when he saw Wakka's face.  
  
Forcing himself to his knees, Sora walked away, shoving himself through the crowd. He saw Yuna and Selphie's innocent faces with the same expression of shock. He moved away from them and walked. Just....walked. It was hard and easier at the same time. Easier, because he didn't have to face anyone, but harder because his heavy heart and wounds weighed him down.  
  
"Sora? Sora, come on..." Rikku's voice softly intruded into his mind, and Sora found himself being led away from the calming would of the ocean.  
  
"But..." he muttered, turning his head towards the sea.  
  
"We'll swim tomorrow, I promise. You need to sleep right now Sora. Sora?" Everything was black.  
  
---  
  
"Well?" Sora asked, looking around the white room. They were in a plain looking white room with a long table in the center surrounded by chairs. Two of the chairs were occupied: one by what was clearly a woman and the other who was either concentrating on the table's surface, or didn't find anyone interesting enough to look at. Sora figured he was just asleep. As soon as Sora had this thought, the figure raised his head slightly to look at him. Sora took a step away when he realized the man possessed glowing eyes. Seeming to be satisfied, the figure looked back down at the table.  
  
Auron broke Sora's 'concentration' as he brushed past and took the head of the table. He didn't sit, but he stood and bent low enough so that his gloved fingertips touched the table. Sora and Riku took this as a signal to sit.  
  
"Most of us know why we are here. Things are being....compromised...in an unexpected way." He paused, but the room remained as silent as a church on a Friday night. He continued, "Never was it expected that, while Riku and Sora split in half, one half good, the other dark, that the darkness and lightness in them be changed. This would explain Our Sora's confusion of his Identity and the KeyBlade Master Sora's recent outburst. The Riku's, on the other hand, have seemed to make an almost equal balance of good an evil between themselves.  
  
"I believe this had much to do with their environments and experiences. Generally, we GateMasters were in a suspended animation, only brought to consciousness when there is a strong shift in energy. GateKeeper Sora should still be asleep and holding all of Sora's Darkness while GateKeeper Riku should be holding all of Riku's Light."  
  
"What do you hold?" Sora interrupted. Auron turned his head to him, annoyed.  
  
"The Lightness and Darkness of Sir Auron were forced to merge into one being to keep the whole living. The separation of Spira nearly killed him." Riku said, answering Sora. Sora turned to look at the other two.  
  
"Who are they?" he asked. The female looked at him, then quickly became uninterested and looked into space again.  
  
"Continuing," Auron said, impatiently, "We need to get your four in contact so that Sora can be wholly Light and Riku can be wholly Darkness. It is the only way to revive Spira. Once this is done, the war against the Heartless will become significantly more in our favor."  
  
"And which side are we on?" Sora asked.  
  
The room was silent.  
  
---  
  
Sora woke up in his old bed briefly. He groaned and tried to roll over, to leave his room so he wouldn't be reminded of his childhood, but someone pushed him back down. Someone with strong, yet soft hands and unnaturally dark skin. Sora's eyes trailed up the arm to it's owner's face.  
  
"Rikku..." he muttered. His eyes were drooping. Rikku smiled and brushed his hair away from his face. "Stay?" he mumbled, unable to move his treacherous body anywheres. Rikku smiled down at him.  
  
"Why would I leave?" she asked. Sora wanted to ask what she meant, but she moved in front of his view. A moment later, Rikku was holding Sora's head in her arms, resting the hairy thing against her chest. She tried not to giggle as his breath tickled her skin, but Sora was quickly falling asleep at the beat of her heart.  
  
'This Heart,' he thought, drifting off to sleep. 'I will protect at all costs.' 


	10. How They Came to Be

Morning saw a young man, who looked no more than 16 meditating under the rising sun. The man's hair was as white as the snow on the distant Mount Gagazet and his emerald green eyes, that missed nothing, flickered under closed lids. His conscience was burning within his chest, though he was unsure why.  
  
Days before, the dark clothed Riku had arrived, claiming to assist in his cause, and had brought refugees a few days later from a dying world. One was a woman who apparently knew a friend of his — a young man who resided in a section of his world.  
  
Baralai opened his eyes and looked out from the balcony onto Bevelle. The city was slowly awakening, first with thieves, merchants, then with the commoners and lastly the wealthy. The priests always seemed to be awake. There was never a time when the young Praetor could go for a walk without being watched upon by his defenders or priests. He hated this infringement upon his privacy, but he had no choice; he was the head of Bevelle, the chief, the boss. Being in his mid thirties and without a wife or even an heir, his death could make the fragile world fall apart.  
  
But it wasn't as if Nooj or Gippal could find someone with whom could replace him. Baralai frowned and leaned over the railing.  
  
Gippal....  
  
The three had been friends for years, with Gippal always planning something that got the other three in trouble. Nooj was always wiseass while Baralai was the practical joker—until Nooj lest his arm and leg in the separation of their world and Baralai was subjected to watching the deaths of the ones he loved. Gippal was the only one that seemed to stay the same.  
  
Baralai shuddered. At the memories of his loss, the near destruction of Spira, and how a new part of Gippal had seemed to come alive over the past few months. This new Gippal scared him. It seemed to use the eye that his friend had covered up with a leather and metal eye patch into the hearts and minds of people.  
  
Shaking his head of the Al Bhed man, Baralai began to think of Nooj. Nooj had aged drastically in their youth, but while they had nothing to worry about except what was to be had for dinner...he was as much as a smartass as Gippal was blonde. Baralai chuckled when he remembered the light in his friend's eyes when he came running to their hiding spot; he had watched a girl skinny dip and had stolen her top, but with the help of his friends, it later wound up around the collar of a very irritated Chocobo when her boyfriend came after them.  
  
Then his thought shifted again, but out of his control. Suddenly, the sky turned dark and cracks grew under his feet. Gippal was about to fall into a crevice when noojs dove into him to get him to safety. There was an explosion and Baralai fell backwards in horror as he watched Nooj withering in pain as his left arm was missing. Baralai couldn't remember if he lost his leg as well then, because a split moment later his friend was shrinking into the distance and he heard his mother scream behind him.  
  
Baralai ran home as swiftly as possible, only to see his mother weeping as she held his dead – or comatose – sister in her arms. Baralai was positive she wasn't dead, but something was wrong...Baralai remembered her feeling feeble and weak as he shoved her behind him, but the next thing he allowed himself to remember was their funeral service. The rest came in his nightmares, which visited him nightly.  
  
Baralai sighed and wondered what it would be like to be normal person, not worrying about bringing a world together or having to fight the Heartless that broke it apart. Unlike the Al Bhed, he refused to believe that the Heartless were sent.  
  
-------------------------------------- ------------------  
  
Nooj, nearly 28 but feeling 60, rolled out of bed with a groan and felt around in the dark for his Machina leg and arm. A part of him respected his friend's face, the Al Bhed, for their mechanical skills, but another part resented that they hadn't considered comfort in their design. Nooj's arm and leg ached, and he wondered if it was worth the effort, to say literally, put himself together for the day. His mind disagreed, and inevitably won. He looked out his window and saw Baralai looking out into Bevelle.  
  
Only the briefest twinge of concern for his elder, but fairer looking friend kept him from going home to Kilika the past few nights. Baralai, as a service to his friend, had women to keep him company, but Nooj refused. Gippal had ased the third night if it was about the woman he had spied on years before. He had asked if she had stolen his heart. Nooj replied that if Gippal didn't want his leg stuffed somewheres uncomfortable, then he would keep his mouth shut.  
  
Dressed in his red 'dictator' suit, which Gippal lovingly called it, Nooj looked out of his window again. Baralai was gone from view, but Nooj guessed the Praetor was meditating again. He wondered how someone could find solace in silence, but then supposed that staving off the nightly screams of terror, pain and fear for silence was a decent enough trade-off. He would ask later how his friend could do it.  
  
Nooj awkwardly walked to his cane in silent pain, took a look around his room, then limped out. He found a servant girl and ordered her to find a healer to his pain. The frightened girl ran off with his orders and where he would be.  
  
Someone had once asked him if he had ever smiled, been carefree, been in love or had been loved. Nooj pointed a gun at the person's head and ordered him or her away, then left to sulk. In private, the man missed running around in the babbling rivers and streams that ran through the Kilika Woods, sneaking a kiss from a pretty girl even when it meant being slapped and just laying in the fiends, enjoying the warm spring days. Now his days were filled with limping down long corridors, snapping orders at soldiers and frightening women he would have rather had dinner with and drilling the soldiers in all terrains possible.  
  
Nooj was a man preparing for a war. He had preparing for it since he had died. Well, Nooj considered his life was over since the Heartless had claimed his arm and leg since he fought with all of his strength to keep his heart. Nooj doubted that he had even kept it, since it was rare he felt any emotion coming from it. For the briefest of moments he wondered if he would find that one heartless and reclaim his limbs and heart, then he dismissed the idea as ludicrous and walked into the dining hall.  
  
The past powers of Bevelle, Spira had spent as much money as possible making the hall as fantastic as possible. It was only second to the ballroom, which had been unused since Baralai's father celebrated his 18th birthday, where he chose Bralai's mother for his wife. He pitied the woman; her husband died two days after the birth of his third child, Baralai's baby sister and left the responsibility of running Spira to her. Soon after, the Heartless came, but it wasn't her fault – no one had prepared for the man to die so young, but no one knew how he died, since there was peace in the lands then...  
  
Nooj sat in a wooden chair with a burgundy velvet cushion and sighed. Soon their breakfast conference would start and his progress with the soldiers was unsatisfactory only to him. They weren't perfect. They weren't the well oiled, working Machina that needed no oral orders or had no fear of losing a heart. They were flesh and blood humans. Humans! Weeping, feeling, worthless things!  
  
But then why did a part of him want the simple pleasures of a married man? The simple touch of a woman's hand on his shoulder, a child grinning up at him triumphantly as they showed him a pyrefly in their hands that they caught, only to realize with tears that pyreflies couldn't be caught. Nooj tried to imagine such a life, of holding the weeping child and showing them how to find their way home by looking at the stars, or simply fishing until the tears stopped...  
  
Nooj growled and beat his fist on the table, banishing his daydreams. A single green eye stared at him from across the table. Nooj paled, wondering how long he had been there.  
  
-------------------------------------- ------------------  
  
Gippal yawned loudly at the dead of night and looked at the wall clock. In a few hours Baralai would be up to meditate and even later, Nooj would crawl out of bed, both escaping their dreams of carnage and tears. Gippal banished his by rarely going to sleep. His refusal to sleep nightly was one aspect about him that kept the Al Bhed from having a steady girlfriend. Each had found his refusal to sleep by their side as insulting and walked from his life forever. He didn't mind; a variety of girls was healthy, at least to him.  
  
Setting down a map, Gippal leaned back and wondered about the love lives of his friends. Baralai was a solemn man, looking like he was 21 when he was closer to 35. To the average man would have joked that the Praetor had nightly visitors that kept him looking young, but Gippal knew for a fact that Baralai was a solitary man. Before his return to his friends, Gippal spied them and watched as all who tried to get emotionally close to the man were shoved away. Gippal made his first mission to get under his friend's skin, which failed, and to cheer him up, in which he succeeded. It didn't show much to some people, but Gippal could see the complete change in his friend. Baralai's Chief Priest had mentioned that the Praetor was more upbeat in any conference since the return of Gippal.  
  
The Return of Gippal. The blonde grinned and ran his fingers through his hair, then traced the strap from his eye patch from habit. It was a title given to him by the Priests and Nooj, but for different reasons. Nooj had proclaimed, in his dry voice, that his return meant that Hell was returning. No one knew how right he was, and they forced the comment from their minds when it accidentally came up in a conversation.  
  
Nooj. What could Gippal say about him? He had changed so much, but who wouldn't change after losing nearly half of his body, then being forced to wear uncomfortable replacements so he would appear almost normal? He knew Nooj was lonely, which was why he barked at anyone who came close to him. Only the one eyed Al Bhed was sly enough to find the solitary man watching a woman with longing, but walk away before she even realized that anyone was there. Gippal laughed aloud once as Nooj watched a woman string up laundry in the servant's section. Nooj turned slowly and awkwardly to look at Gippal with his ever present frown before leaving.  
  
Gippal once again ran his fingers along his strap to the back of his head thoughtfully. He, on the other hand, had no problem attracted the female species, and supposed this was why Baralai made more of an effort of finding female companions for Nooj than him.  
  
A gust of wind from Gippal's open window sent some of his papers scattering. Gippal growled and jumped around, plucking the papers from the air before they drifted out his window. After a few minutes of hopping around like a juvenile Chocobo, Gippal went back to the task at hand. In the papers was an outline of a 21 year old male, 5'8", with lean muscle and a flair with any women. On the top of the papers was labeled 'KeyBlade Guardian', then penciled in next to the title was written "Sora". The boy reminded him of a combination of Baralai and Nooj and the Al Bhed felt instantly sorry for him. Something in the back of his mind told him that he was once like Gippal himself, but that part seemed a long time dead. But no one could live on pity and his daydreaming got no work done.  
  
Eight hours later had Gippal sauntering down a corridor, winking at a few blushing girls. One girl in white robes was running past him, and Gippal grinned, fully knowing that she had the unpleasant opportunity to meet Nooj. Rounding a corner, he ran into Baralai, who was listening to a young serving boy who was happily telling his master that his father had taken him fishing and held up his hands to show the size of the fish he caught. Baralai nodded solemnly and called the boy a 'man', making the boy grin happily and leave to do his chores. Baralai chuckled softly and stood straight. He spied Gippal and smiled sheepishly, and the two walked into the dining hall to find Nooj, silent and staring into space.  
  
Gippal grinned happily and sat across from Nooj and stared into his eyes until Nooj pounded his fist on the table, then jumped back when he noticed Gippal's emerald eye.  
  
"Damn it Gippal!" he exploded, red faced. Gippal laughed and ran his fingers along his strap.  
  
"Mornin' to you too Noojie Woogie!" Gippal mocked, using the nickname a blonde Bevellian called Nooj. The woman, named Leblanc, seemed to be chasing the man, but Nooj was completely oblivious to her advances. Nooj stared at him, a bit confused, then blushed.  
  
"Childish." He snapped, looking to the side. The woman had recently slapped him when he told her to go back to her brothel. He didn't know she was of a respected family...that was apparently dear friends with Baralai's deceased parents.  
  
"All right you two," Baralai interjected, sitting at the head of the table. This signaled a horde of servants to bring in a lavish breakfast with several types of fruit juice, flavored waters and alcohol. Gippal looked over a red haired girl and winked at her with his good eye. The girl blushed deeply, making it look like her head was on fire and left giggling. When the servants were gone, the trio began polite conversation, then Gippal sniggardly asked about Leblanc and the room exploded with yelling.  
  
"This Sora, how can we help him help us?" Nooj asked, once calmed and plunging his fork into some chocobo eggs. Baralai took a elegant sip of red wine and looked at Gippal over the edge of the glass.  
  
"We need to find his other half first, along with Riku's other half, and once we have their powers combined, all of the hard work will be done for us." Gippal sat back and let the information sink in. 


	11. Kilika Islands

FaxSora opened his eyes early the next morning by a force of habit. His pillow, Rikku moved from under him and she brushed his hair from his face with a gentle hand.  
  
"Did you know you snore?" she asked with a smile. Sora forced a smile.  
  
"No I didn't." he answered, feeling a bit embarrassed. Rikku giggled.  
  
"Well, I didn't know either. You just sleep like you're in a coma!" she giggled at her little joke on Sora. He managed a smile until he realized that some places on his body hurt.  
  
His smile was gone and he was reminded of the night before.  
  
How could he be so stupid? Letting his emotions carry him away like that?  
  
Well, Riku started it, said his other voice. Riku came up behind you with the intention of hurting you. He always wanted to hurt you and you know it. Always being better…  
  
…But you kissed her, or didn't resist when she kissed you.  
  
"Sora?" Rikku looked into Sora's face worried. He looked at her and realized that during this reverie, she had undone his shirt and was rubbing his chest. He blushed and sat up.  
  
"I'm fine Rikku. I just need some air."  
  
"You better get it quick." She advised. Sora nodded and headed out.  
  
----  
  
The Centigrade Crew left in the afternoon. Some of the islanders were concerned about the fight and wondered if Sora stayed too long, the Heartless would return. Kairi was worried. Until that night, no one had remembered the Heartless had even existed. That full year seemed to be a dream vaguely remembered, but one no one wanted to remember.  
  
The 'old gang' was gathered at the shore, watching the Centigrade Crew disappear aboard the AirShip. Even Riku was there, with his arm in his shirt in such a way that he mimicked Auron, a black eye, and other bruises. Kairi looked at Sora, smiled and waved to him. Sora gave a short wave back, trying not to look at Riku. Kairi still cared for him, even loved him, even though Riku pointed out that Rikku had entered his room that night and only left with him in the morning, but she knew Sora, he wouldn't hurt her.   
  
Not intentionally.  
  
----  
  
The ship was silent. No one asked Sora about the fight, and Sora didn't offer an explanation. Auron disappeared into one of the small bedrooms while Brother manned the ship. Goofy and Donald looked out the windows, hoping to catch a glance of part of their world. Sora looked for Rikku, then realized she was right there, holding his arm and looking into his face worried. Sora smiled and pulled her close. This, he thought, felt more right than anything he had felt with Kairi. Maybe I can be happy…  
  
"Attention KeyBlade Master! We're going to Kilika now. It's another chain of islands, but the last is so big it has a forest and a temple on it!" Brother called back to them in his thick accent. Sora smiled at each r that was pronounced 'hhrrrr' by Brother, and wondered why Rikku lacked the same accent. Then he realized that Cid didn't have the accent at all either.  
  
"Papa wasn't around much when Brother was growing up, so he grew up with Al Bhed. I was stuck on a different world where people spoke both languages." She said quietly so her brother couldn't hear. A fleeting thought came across Sora's mind: why was her brother named Brother? Then he scolded himself for thinking about trivial things and leaned against the inner wall of the Centigrade.  
  
"So, we're going to talk with the elders, or Leaders or whatever and hold a giant conference at the temple?" Sora asked.  
  
"That's the plan." Brother said with a swift nod. Sora allowed a smile. It seemed that he and Brother were getting along, which was good. He and Brother needed all the friends that they could get, since the future wasn't kind nor was it easy.  
  
----  
  
"Here we are!" Rikku said cheerily, towing Sora behind her towards Nooj, who was standing on a boat. Kilika was an odd place—the oddest Sora has ever seen. Most of the houses were on poles in the water, not even on land, and there were walkways a bit above the water and to reach the second level of the villages. The village was split in the middle, so a small boat, like the one Nooj was standing in, could go through the village straight to the clearing that was just before the forest. Sora marveled at how the people gave up living on land and opted for living precariously over water, then wondered why.  
  
A few minutes later after taking the tour of the village, Sora and Rikku accompanied Nooj and the boatman in the small vessel and he brought them through the water with grace and ease, even for an elderly man. Rikku giggled and stuck her finger in the water to trace the paths of various fish. Sora smiled and tried to start up a conversation with Nooj. Nooj's answers were short, curt, and short. Sora privately wondered if he wanted to keep Kilika from joining the rest of the world to reunite Spira.  
  
Sora's thought were interrupted when the boat lightly bumped the 'dock'. Sora got out first and helped Rikku, then he moved to help Nooj. Nooj, the ever obstinate man that he was, shoves away Sora's helping hand and got out of the craft with an ease that surprised everyone. That seemed to inflate his ego as much as a grain of sand adds to the desert.  
  
Men in armor were there to meet them with guns and helmets. They stood at attention and saluted Nooj as he approached the gate that blocked the plains and the forest.  
  
"Master Nooj, the perimeter is secure!" said a man, dressed more formally than the rest. Sora was surpised by these men, who seemed to be barely older than him. The rest of the village seemed laid back, like the Besaid 'Destiny' Islands. Nooj nodded to the men and two led the small group, with two bringing up the rear. Sora felt the KeyBlade amulet under his shirt and wondered if part of Auron's training for him was just ahead.  
  
The walk was uneventful. Just plain grass that was short as if animals had grazed there, and clear view of another island that was too small and not fertile enough to support life. Sora wondered if it were some sort of shrine that could be only visited for special occasions by boat. Sora shook his head of the thought. There weren't enough boats to bring people there for a ceremony, and the boat they had could barely fit four teens, or two teens, a village 'Leader' and their boatman.  
  
By the time they reached the forest, Sora noticed that the older man began to limp. Sora looked at one of the warrior men, then to Nooj. He shrugged, as if to say it was normal for Nojo's artificial leg to start chafing after a walk. Sora pieced that this was why the red clad man had been quiet.  
  
The forest had different paths going in different directions that seemed to be made by the passings of humans and creatures. The trees also lent themselves to the creation of the paths, since each were formed as if they were planted so that they would grow so close together that a person would have to walk through the tree-maze until they found themselves out.  
  
"It is to prevent the temple from rioting villagers. The gate is the first precaution, then the maze. Each part of the maze has it's own gate to keep people out." Nooj explained. "There are also warriors and warrior-monks awaiting us at the temple who also protect the temple." Sora nodded in understanding. "Then there are the beasts." Sora looked at Nooj, who took a right turn along the water. As if on cue, a beautiful reddish-gold tiger with long furry antennae turned from drinking and growled at them. Sora stood, confused at why the men were aiming at the creature.   
  
He shook his head and turned to go another way, even if it was rude, and saw a huge stone wall. His mind screamed that is wasn't a wall, but some sort of fossilized creature that was moving towards the group. It was soon joined by a DarkBall Heartless and some Green Requiems. The tiger-creature, called a Courel, turned it's head from the humans and growled a warning at the Heartless. The Heartless ignored the feline and proceeded to attack the humans. The stone creature was somehow moving slowly towards them, but the warriors were too busy trying to gun down the Requiems to notice. A man closest to the stone creature inhaled deeply, making the man turn. He screamed when he realized what the thing was as it exhaled on him. The scream lingered, making the Heartless pause to try and steal the Heart. The DarkBalls were angry and the Requiems were buzzing around with annoyance. Stone humans have no Hearts to steal. They turned on the stone creature and began to attack.   
  
"Heeee-yah!" Sora turned as he heard Rikku yell out and knock the Courel into the water. She danced and cheered as it struggled to swim, then found shallow water and slunk away. Sora smiled and pulled out the KeyBlade amulet.  
  
"It's time I helped." He said to himself quietly and got in his fighting stance. The stone creature had fallen, and couldn't get up after a DarkBall bounced at it hard enough to topple it over; the Requiems healed each other and looked at the humans again. Sora smiled as he felt the KeyBlade grow in his hand into it's normal size. "Strike raid" he whispered, then threw the KeyBlade at the creatures. The KeyBlade managed to eliminate some Requiems, critically damage a DarkBall, then returned to Sora's hand. Without hearing the men insisting they would help, Sora ran forward and fought the creatures that had no right to be in this world….  
  
…and only stopped when Rikku placed a cool hand on his shoulder. Sora suddenly realized that the Heartless were pouring in after them, and Nooj was nearly a sitting duck with his Machina leg.  
  
"I'll distract them and you get him out of here. One you are safe, call for me and I'll come."  
  
"It's supposed to go 'if you're in danger, call me and I'll come running'." Rikku said, trying to not sound worried. Sora smiled at her and lunged into the fight. Nooj watched for a moment, interested as Sora fought the Heartless that appeared around him from thin air, then allowed himself to be ushered towards the temple.  
  
He didn't know how long he fought, but by the time he was aware that Rikku was safe, he backed away from his attackers. He grinned while he ran from the confused Heartless. Fighting them in an enclosed space with his old weapon helped his muscles loosen up and made him feel able, energized and ready to tackle any problem.  
  
"He makes it look like a game." A warrior muttered to his companion as he and a team ran down the temple steps to help Sora. Sora was currently fighting a soldier like he was fighting someone in a training room. He dodged, parried, sidestepped and attacked as if he were against his best friend. Oddly enough, human and Heartless seemed to enjoy this exchange. The Soldier Heartless stopped when it heard the Warriors arrive, then tilted it's head at Sora as if to say 'it was fun', then disappeared in a cloud of nothingness. The rest of the Heartless paused, then began to attack the humans after just merely watching the exchange between the Heartless and boy.  
  
Giddy and winded, Sora rejoined Rikku and Nooj at the temple, and bowed to the priests around them.   
  
"Just some Soldiers, DarkBalls and Requiems." Sora said, wiping sweat from his forehead.  
  
"Just?" there was a murmur from the priest-audience.  
  
"Those are the creatures that have killed two of my teams escorting the priests to their temple home. It seems only your weapon has any effect against them." Nooj said harshly. "Probably anyone with your weapon could fight the Heartless. What makes the KeyBlade exclusive to you?" Nooj asked, taking the KeyBlade from Sora's hand. Almost immediately, it disappeared from Nooj's hold and returned itself into Sora's hand.  
  
"It chooses me." He said. "And it can change its mind. It has once, then it came back to me." Nooj and the priests merely stared at Sora. "I have the strength enough to fight the Heartless, and I believe I have the strength to reunite Spira." Nooj looked as if Sora said the key phrase. He turned to the monks and warriors.  
  
"Prepare the festivities; our world will be whole again!" Nooj's voice was loud, deep and powerful. Although he was solemn, he managed to excite young priests and priestesses and warriors. The priests merely smiled and nodded. Rikku ran to Sora and collided into him with a hug.  
  
"It was so easy! Now all the islands are together and we can start bringing the big piece together!" she whispered in Sora's ear, still hugging him. Sora smiled and hugged her back, feeling her chest pressed against his and their hearts beating together. Yes, he WOULD being together Spira, and Rikku would be by his side.  
  
…and Kairi? His evil inner voice asked.   
  
Kairi has Riku. They've had each other for six years. I can't swoop in and take her. Besides, what I have with Rikku is stronger than anything I've ever felt with Kairi.  
  
…you SAY. Countered the voice.  
  
I do. He shot back.  
  
Rikku looked into Sora's face, worried at his silence.  
  
"Come on Rikku, we need to help people get to the temple.  
  
----  
  
That night, the temple was lit completely and everyone was dancing. There was enough food and drink to keep everyone lively enough to keep the Heartless at bay and to make the fiends move away from the noise. The gates were guarded by a few loners so that the creatures wouldn't destroy their homes.  
  
Sora, a new and exotic boy from a far away place and destroyer of Fiends and Heartless alike, was the center of attention for each female, available and not. Rikku on the other hand, was oogled by every male, young and old, especially when she found a young man with tanned skin and began to dance with him. Sora watched her with a certain fondness.  
  
"Heya, why don'tcha dance?" Rikku asked when Sora led her away from their fan clubs. Sora shrugged and climbed a tree. Rikku followed easily and ended up in front of him. "Something wrong?" she asked, with concern in her deep green swirling eyes. Sora smiled and stood on a sturdy brand and leaned into Rikku.  
  
"No. For the first time in years everything is right." He said, then gently kissed Rikku with the party, pulsing music and light behind them. Nooj watched with interest from his hiding spot.  
  
…so….she fell in love. At least out plans are guaranteed. He thought, then as nimbly as a cat jumping from it's chair, he got out of the tree.  
  
You guys, I love it when you review, but the last few comments were disappointing. I mean, one word comments like "awesome" doesn't tell me what part was awesome! Tell me what you thought was awesome, like….'it was awesome how Sora kicked the shi--- out of Riku' or 'I wonder if Riku lost any teeth' or something stupid that has to do with the story.  
  
/rambling 


	12. Luca's Past

Auron and Brother led the group out into Luca, an apparently abandoned world followed by Donald and Goofy, and finally by Rikku and Sora. Rikku's cheek was pressed against Sora's muscular arm. Sora looked down at Rikku fondly, but had to brush his hair back now and then. After six years of not having the time to cut it, his wild hair had grown spiky and fell well over his eyes if he looked down. Rikku didn't seem to mind, and took every opportunity to brush the hair out of his handsome face so she could see his eyes.  
  
"Ohh brother" Donald groaned, rolling his eyes. The two lovers had been together for a grand total of two days, smiling at each other and holding hands, which was senseless aboard an airship. Goofy looked down at his feather friend and laughed, his voice echoing through the empty halls and corridors. Brother and Auron stopped and looked around. When the other four caught up, they assessed where they were.  
  
"We're in the old lobby of the Luca Sphere Pool" Brother said, arms crossed with a scowl on his face. Sora shouted, then listened to the echo.  
  
"What are we here for?" Sora asked. "Why is it empty?" The absence of people and bodies was completely unnerving. Actually, the whole world seemed to have absolutely no living creatures at all.  
  
"The Heartless didn't do a surprise attack like many people think. The officials of Bevelle, the Al Bhed leaders, the Guado elders and the Ronso elders all had terrible premonitions, but most ignored the warnings." Auron sighed and walked down a hallway. Confused, the rest followed the red coated man until they found themselves in a vast stadium. The seats were all folded back up and everything was clean besides a few layers of dust. Auron stood in an aisle and looked into the sky, thinking of the Sphere Pool. "Sora, do you remember this place?" Auron asked. Sora opened his mouth to object, then looked around.  
  
Suddenly, the seats were filled and bursting with color, with people, with life. He looked above and there was the sphere pool. All around, people were yelling joyously as a team scored a goal. Homemade banners were held, displaying the names of their favorite teams and players.   
  
"Say hi to Papa Sora, can you say hi to Papa?" a woman asked. Sora turned quickly to face the woman whose voice he heard so clearly. The one person he ached to see when he returned home, but had been already dead.  
  
"Mother..." he whispered. There, to his right was his mother, 16 years ago, holding an infant on one arm and a two year old boy in the other. Sora's eyes widened as he saw his toddler self in his mother's arms, waving his chubby arms at his father. His father waved back, then swam back into the game.   
  
"Ouch! Tidus! Don't pull!" his mother scolded the baby. Tidus's face wrinkled up to burst into tears, but Sora reached out and tickled his foot.  
  
"Be goo Ti'us!" said the two-year old Sora to his baby brother. Tidus giggled and kicked out, then all three looked into the sphere pool.  
  
"Sora?" Rikku tightened her grip on Sora's hand, and the happy colors, people and noises were sucked away. Sora reeled from this and leaned on Rikku. Auron was staring at him, as if he were satisfied with something.  
  
"What did you do?" Sora asked, and was surprised at how dry and raspy his voice sounded. He was dimly aware of the others, but there only seemed to be him and Auron in the stadium. Sora knew Auron was going to answer, but the floor shook and Auron stumbled backwards as the ground below him began to split from the rest of the stadium.  
  
"Auron!" was the last thing the Ex-Guardian heard before he disappeared into the void; the voices of two Al Bhed youths, a Yevonite boy and two of the King's Guardians.   
  
Sora ran to the area where Auron fell, but suddenly a hoard of Heartless swarmed from the bottom of the rounded Sphere Pool Stadium and charged at the travelers. Sora grabbed his KeyBlade amulet and felt it grow into the full sized KeyBlade in his hand. He heard Rikku and Brother shout out their battle cries and Donald and Goofy's own challenges. Sora, however, was silent. He had learned years ago not to waste his breath at calling out battle cries and challenges and kept it as energy for the length of the battle. There was time to gloat after you won.  
  
What seemed like an eternity of fighting, yelling, dodging and blocking, a light suddenly appeared from where the Heartless were pouring out. Everyone, even the Heartless, stopped to look. Then the air was filled with the squealing cries of the Shadows, Soldiers and Requiems, then the roar of the largers, then the beating of a retreat on the chests of the Large Bodies. Soon, all of the Heartless were gone, sans the Soldier Sora had dueled with in Kilika. It was still looking at the light source, tilting it's head as if it were trying to understand, then turned to Sora.  
  
Sora's head snapped back as the Soldier stared into his eyes, and soon images flooded his head.  
  
His and Tidus's father, Jecht, was running towards them from the Sphere Pool, his arms waving frantically.  
  
"Git the kids outta here!" he bellowed. People who were yelling at him for abandoning the game paused in confusion. "Som'thins gonna happen, somehtin big!" he yelled, trying to make his way to his family. Sora turned to look at his mother, clutching her two children.  
  
"Jecht---"  
  
"Go! Everyone go or you'll all be destroyed!" he screamed. Sora's mother turned slowly, then ran. Jecht turned to Auron, who appeared at least 30 years younger, when it was barely 20 years before.  
  
"They'll be safe once they are gone." He said calmly, standing in an aisle while people were screaming and running to their various vehicles to go home.  
  
"And whose gonna protect them? You? The King won't let you be a guardian no more with that arm!" Jech said, pointing at Auron's wound. Auron frowned.  
  
"I can get them as far as Besaid." Auron replied crossly. Jecht nodded and then shook his head. Heartless were slowly coming from the center of the Stadium.  
  
"Just—don't hang around. I want my kids to remember me as much as possible. Not their transporter." Jecht said offhandedly. Sora blinked, realizing that Jecht meant to protect them there: by sacrificing his life to keep some of the Heartless from following the fleeing people. Auron turned and left, walking right through Sora.   
  
As soon as the phantom guardian was gone, Sora was aware that the Heartless stopped coming. He turned to look into the Sphere arena and saw Auron limping out of the cracked sphere pool. At the rim, he stopped, turned, and extended his good arm back into the unknown. His arm stiffened as something grabbed hold of his arm, then struggled to bring him arm out. Sora ran to Auron, along with Brother, Goofy and Donald and together they helped the tired guardian pull out a hooded figure.  
  
"King Mickey!"  
  
King Mickey pulled away his hood and looked around at his taller defenders against the Heartless. Sora smiled down at the King as best he could, but could not feel turely happy to see him. The King didn't smile, but turned towards the Sphere Pool Arena and nodded, and two hooded figures climbed out. Their faces were completly hidden, but Sora thought he saw a shock of light brown hair protrude from the hood of the shorter man.  
  
"Sora," Auron was staring at Sora through his good eye. Sora started back at him, completly confused. Donald and Goofy were obviously confused at the newcomers and tried to talk to them, but the men were silent. Sora nodded slowly, gave Rikku a small wave and followed Auron and the two men, who followed the King.  
  
"Where are we going?" Sora asked, looking at half destroyed ships that were still in the harbor. One of the figures turned to look at Sora, then turned away before Sora could see his face.  
  
"Here." Auron said, stopping abruptly. Sora, who was looking at the faded designs on the walls and columns, walked right into Auron. Auron seemed vexed at this, but he looked at King Mickey, who had turned to look at them.  
  
"What the hell is this all about?" a voice snapped, coming out from the shadows. Sora turned around and felt anger well up inside his chest as he saw his old best friend. Riku frowned at Sora, and stopped his advancement.   
  
"We do not need you both to get over your differences, but we do need your co-oporation with us," King Mickey said, with a tone of irritation in his slightly high-pitched voice.  
  
"We aren't supposed to work together in this?" Sora asked, completely taken back by this piece of information. Mickey turned to look at Sora.  
  
"We need you two to be as separate as possible, which is why these two are here," Mickey waved his hands to the two figures, who seemed to keep a distance from each other. "They are a part of you, each created when the Heartless were born, and were waiting for the two of you to enter the battle before becoming your other halves." He explained.  
  
"Sora, the reason you have been drifting towards the side of the Heartless while Riku has been drifting towards the Light, is because you two were actually destined to take different roles, but Kairi's introduction into your world changed everything. Even the fates assumed that Riku would be the rightful KeyBlade wielder, so while you were children, these two shifted on this assumption. This is also why Riku was solely looking for Kairi in the beginning. If it weren't for Donald and Goofy, you Sora would have joined the Heartless, but since you didn't, it caused to both of you to be 'straddled'." The King took a deep breath, as if he were to unleash a burden on the two.  
  
"There is a process for you two to undertake for you to separate the Good and Evil within yourselves, so during battle there are no 'Battles of the Heart'...taking place." The King paused, as if he accidently let something slip. The boys didn't notice.  
  
"That means....if we do this, I can be the KeyBlade Guardian?" Riku asked slowly. The King nodded and Riku glanced over at Sora, who looked crestfallen.   
  
"And...I can lose Rikku...?" Sora aske, deflated. The King paused, but nodded to confirm.  
  
"It is very risky, but needed. Because of the risk, I ask–implore you to do this." the King said, bowing before the two boys. After a moment of trying to glare each other down, they nodded. 


	13. The Path He Chose

**Story:** Sora's Fate

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything here besides some of the events that don't happen in the game. I made them up XP

**By:** TheBabs

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"Do you accept the consequences?" King Mickey asked, serious in his high pitched voice. Riku nodded solemnly while Sora lifted up his chin and declared defiantly,  
  
"I do!" Mickey nodded, and then faded into the background that flashed black and white. Sora and Riku looked around in confusion as they found themselves, and their other halves, in a shapeless world where the four seemed to be floating...  
  
...well, the two of them.  
  
The hooded 'Sora' and 'Riku' had unexpectedly turned into a grey vapor and had entered the two boys. Sora watched warily as the dense gray vapor came close to him, and noticed that Riku seemed to go to his light grey vapor. As soon as the vapors were in them, Sora noticed that his body felt heavy and that he was falling through the nonsensical world, with Riku falling besides him.   
  
For no reason did they panic. Why? They were whole beings falling through a black and white splotched world with no ground to splatter on to. And there was a promise of everything being made right. But why were they there again? They no longer knew. The longer they slowly fell through the world, the more they forgot.  
  
Then, before their eyes a scene began.   
  
Two soldiers fell: one to keep the Door to Kingdom Hearts closed, then the other after his connection to his lifeblood, the Heartless were sealed off. Sora felt time slip by very quickly to not too far in the past.  
  
A world, one both recognized as Hollow Bastion, began to fall apart well, ripped apart by a huge Heartless. As the Heartless spiraled away from Hollow Bastion, they sunk their claws in other worlds, tearing them apart from the inside out.   
  
This was their first conquest in hundreds of years. The KeyBlade Bearer and the GateKeeper were either dead or in their enchanted sleep, it didn't matter to the Heartless much: they were gone and the Heartless were in control again.   
  
Then Sora's childhood memory came up before them again, except he knew Riku could see it this time. Jecht, Sora and Tidus's father, as well as a world known Blitzer, had stopped in the middle of one of his fantastic moves, then jumped from the Sphere Pool into the audience. Floating above the stadium, Sora could clearly see a dark liquid coming from the bottom of the stadium and watched as Heartless jumped from the liquid to attack the people in the closer rows.   
  
Riku and Sora watched as Jecht gave his wife and Auron orders to leave, and Sora watched as his father painfully died later. It must have been hours his father had fought, but it seemed too fast for Sora. A white Heartless Sora had never seen before picked up Jecht's weapon, the blitzball, and hurled it at Jecht's head. The man fell forward into the hands of a thousand Shadow Heartless, then had his Heart taken and his body dragged into their world.  
  
"...Sora..." Riku began. Sora shook his head.  
  
"No, I'm all right Riku." He looked over to Riku, who was genuinely concerned and smiled. "At least I knew he loved us enough to die for us. I'll have to tell Tidus."  
  
The scene changed then, to Auron bringing Jecht's family to Besaid Island of the Destiny Islands. Sora smiled when he saw a dark haired LuLu being towed to the docks by a silver haired toddler named Riku. The two boys could only see the events as if they were seagulls flying overhead, but Sora remembered his first meeting with Riku and watched with amusement as the younger Riku and LuLu managed to pull Sora away from his mother so they could explore the beach.  
  
Auron and Yuna's father, only known as Braska then, left on the ship to go back and help the countries fighting the Heartless. As the ship was out of sight many hours later, the earth below them rumbled, then shook violently. It wasn't until a week later when the ships that went out failed to return that they realized that the Destiny Islands were possibly the only surviving lands of the unknown attack.  
  
The pull came again, which signaled a change in time. It wasn't a pleasant pull, nor was it something nauseating or painful. More like that of an unexpected drop that barely lasted a second. It was about three years later, when a small girl with red hair washed up on the beach. Just before, blue 'meteors' fell from the sky. The children weren't allowed to stay up too late to see the shower, but LuLu and Wakka had seen it the same. Sora looked at Riku, just as Riku looked at him. They had never seen Kairi's arrival to their world, so were these LuLu and Wakka's memories? No, they weren't memories at all, but the actual events. This thought appeared in their minds at the same time, and was accepted.  
  
"I remember this," Riku said, as he watched himself and Sora leave their 'secret place' to meet Kairi. She was watching Wakka bounce his Blitzball on his head, feet and shoulders in his attempt to cheer her up.  
  
'Heya!' Riku said, sitting on one side of Kairi. Sora sat on her other side and smiled at the small girl.  
  
'Wat'cher name?' Sora asked. Kairi looked at both boys timidly and shook her head.  
  
'Her name is Kairi,' Yuna said, running towards the others. She was followed by LuLu, who walked at her own, slow pace. 'She's really nice, but shy around boys,' she said, sitting between Riku and Kairi. Kairi smiled a bit at Yuna and scootched away from Sora. Sora pouted a bit and looked at the sand. Kairi giggled and smiled at Sora, so which Sora smiled back happily, making Kairi blush and hide her face.  
  
-This was the first-  
  
Sora and Riku jumped, well stiffened, at the voice and looked around as they fell. Its felt like King Mickey's voice, but sounded full of power and command, and not at all high-pitched like the King's. The scene changed again to Riku's training spot. Kairi was sitting on a palm tree that grew downwards after the base was bent in a storm that they had. Sora was sitting under it, half asleep while Riku was practicing his dodges and rolls and thrusts with his wooden sword. It was one of the days where Riku tried to get as much information from Kairi about her world as possible, but she never had the answers he wanted.  
  
-This was the second-  
  
Sora frowned. Was this each time their fates had changed? Yes, it must have been. If it weren't for Kairi, Sora had felt many times like he would explode from the pressure of trying to be as good as Riku. In front of them was a scene where Tidus had told Sora that he would never beat Riku in a fair fight, then it went forward to a year before their world had been destroyed. Sora, Wakka and Tidus ganged up on Riku for a surprise attack—and had still lost. Sora felt the burning in his chest when he saw this and remembered when he had felt it after their loss. It was of jealousy and humiliation. Humiliation that two brothers and their best friend could be bested by one boy...but it showed Kairi running to Sora after...just as he was about to vow to be Riku's rival...and soothed his temper and made him fall even harder for her.  
  
Riku turned to Sora.  
  
"You never told me this," he hissed. Sora blinked. "You knew she was meant for me and you took her!"  
  
-This is the third-  
  
"Shut up!" Riku roared. "I don't want to see any more! I was and always will be the opposite of Sora! And if that means following the Heartless, then so be it!" he spat. Sora yelped at Riku's vehemence and then yelped again as his feet touched the ground.  
  
-This is the one-  
  
The world was now a black and white version of Besaid Island. As if by some instruction they already knew, the boys got into their separate boats and rowed onto the training Island. Around them, everything was still. The oars made no noise against the water, the seagulls that flew made no cries, and the boys were silent as they dragged their small boats onto shore and walked to the 'secret place'.  
  
Inside was vibrant with colors, the ground was covered with soft, springy moss and the cave dripped and trickled with sweet water. Riku and Sora looked at each other in confusion. This was the opposite of the real cave, just as the islands were different.  
  
"The door! The door is....open!" Sora stuttered. Riku frowned and looked at the door, which was indeed open. Again, they stepped forward together through the door...  
  
Sora smiled as Rikku ran to him and wrapped her arms around Sora tightly. Sora laughed and kissed Rikku on her forehead.  
  
"What happened? I got the worst feeling ever a bit after you left!" Sora looked into Rikku's green spiral eyes for a moment, then to his old friends Donald and Goofy, then at Brother and Auron.  
  
"I'm finally myself again---" he paused and looked into the Stadium. The others turned as well, and Donald and Goofy got ready for a fight.  
  
Riku was standing on the edge of the curved stadium and glared at the group, then jumped in and disappeared into the Darkness. Rikku looked up at Sora, worried, but he held Rikku close and looked into the distance.


	14. Al Bhed in Agrabah

**Story:** Sora's Fate

**Disclaimer:** I own only Sha'ra. Everything else is kudos to Square/Enix and that **_damned_**...I mean _darling_ Disney...

**By:** TheBabs

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Gippal scratched the black eyepatch impatiently and shifted his weight from his left to his right foot. Bevelle had been boring since the pale boy named Sora left. The hooded lad called Riku left as well, as was reported by a tearful group of children. Apparently, they had loved the silent boy who silently wiped away their tears and fended off the Heartless and Fiends. Gippal, tired of the weeping and people milling about anxiously for 'Their Savior' to lock away or destroy the Heartless or even following the pale Baralai whenever he left the government center.  
  
Flying past broken pieces of forgotten worlds and stars wasn't any less irritating to Gippal than the Bevellian people he left behind. At least now he had silence almost. He turned to the pilot of his Air-Gummi Ship, his mother's second child and his half-brother, Buddy.  
  
Buddy and Gippal have never had a long rivalry, although Gippal's father found out that she had been with another man when Gippal was a small child and had claimed that she left wed-lock with his father years ago. Gippal met Buddy when he was seven years old. Buddy was five then, but they were almost as good friends as Gippal, Baralai and Nooj were. Gippal couldn't remember if he ever told Baralai or Nooj, and wondered if they ever guessed that Gippal had a younger brother that his mother loved more.  
  
Buddy turned in his seat to look at his older brother, as if hearing his thoughts or feeling the negative energy radiating from him. Gippal frowned at him, not hiding his current dislike for the younger. If he wanted time alone to sulk, then no one should bother him of it. Buddy blinked at his brother through his goggles, then turned back around. Gippal grinned. He may not have been the more loved one, but he got all of the looks: great skin, hair and a body the ladies loved. Buddy was a deep tan with sand white hair the only thing they shared was their muscled bodies.  
  
Gippal sighed and sat in a large seat reserved specifically for him while short, blue skinned Hypello ran around, asking the crew if they wanted refreshments and the like. After ordering a strong alcohol, Gippal leaned back in his seat and nodded off.  
  
--  
  
Gippal's last meal with his friends was more of a conference than anything else. He was disappointed at this, but there was nothing that could be done: Spira had to be reunited again into one world and a new war would commence from the old one that sparked the Heartless into movement again until one 'country' would reign over the others.  
  
Gippal's purpose was to make sure that the Al Bhed from Bikanel Desert came out on top, even if it cost him Nooj and Baralai.  
  
In the back of his dreaming mind, Gippal pondered the reason for the war. Bevelle had always been the capital in Spiran history, maybe that's what started the war? No, why would one start when everyone was perfectly happy...? Gippal turned in his sleep, and his thoughts shifted.  
  
--  
  
In the distance, Nooj had just saved Baralai's life, but was swiftly being dragged into the ground by the dark things...darklings...he quickly dubbed them. With a war cry, Gippal charged through their masses to his friend and dove down to help. For a split moment he saw Nooj's face, full of pain and worry, then he was sucked under.  
  
'Nooj!' he cried, trying to get closer, shoving the darklings/Heartless away. One turned to Gippal slowly, then in a swift moment that Gippal barely saw, a darkling stabbed Gippal in his eye. Gippal reeled in pain and fell back. Almost just as swiftly as the one darkling stabbed him, the others shoved him back until his one eye saw sky.  
  
He remembered a cute girl called 'Rikku' found him along with her brother...Brother...and of all people, Buddy. Brother had shielded Rikku from Gippal while Buddy tried to help Gippal stand. Gippal, being the fool that he was, refused Buddy's help until he felt something clawing at his leg. Looking down, one of the darklings had stayed with him and was trying to use him as a shield from the sun. Then the air was filled with yelling and gunshots as the Al Bhed took up arms against the Heartless, who had just morphed into forms more suited for the desert. Gippal barely remembered seeing a tall white palace in the distance with golden tops....  
  
--  
  
Buddy gave the controls of the Air-Ship to another Al Bhed and walked around swinging his arms to loosen them up. Navigating the ship is profoundly boring, Buddy thought. He looked at his older brother who fell asleep in his chair. He had just moved a bit so the patched eye was facing him. Buddy shuddered uncontrollably.   
  
Damn, that day the Heartless spat him out from the ground...what had they done to his eye?! Gippal had been holding it in one hand in pain, but apparantly could still use it. Buddy wondered to this day if Gippal was aware that he was hysterically crying, or if he even saw his own eye. While the other Al Bhed were fighting, the three young Al Bhed brought Gippal into Home. The White Mage gasped when she saw Gippal, then busied herself with healing him. None of her remedies or spells worked against Gippal's eye, so she gave the excuse that he would lose sight through the eye and put his metal and leather patch over it.  
  
Buddy frowned at Gippal as a Hypello left a tall glass of a lime green liquid next to his brother. The Hypello disappeared down the hall.  
  
"Why don't you two just talk things out?" the Al Bhed said. Buddy turned to his replacement navigator and frowned. She was his ex-fiancé who had left Buddy after a month long war between the brothers. It came from Gippal assuming the role as the head of the Al Bhed and him not allowing Buddy any responsibility or even admit that they were brothers to the masses. Neither man was...manly enough to end the fight. It confused the hell out of the others who were in close contact with Gippal or Buddy for more than a week. Both were charming men, with positive attitudes and very helpful in a pinch. Get them in the same room...and it's a re enactment of any pointless war.  
  
"I wish we could just be brothers again, but it's not something Gippal seems to want, and he always seems to get his way." Buddy gritted his teeth, then sighed as the Al Bhed woman, Sha'ra, squeezed his shoulder in sympathy.  
  
"Well, your mother gave you the attention, didn't she? The love, the devotion " Buddy shrugged her off.  
  
"That has nothing to do with now, with today Sha'ra!" Buddy said sniffily, then he sighed. "We should man the ship. Agrabah should be coming up soon unless the Heartless shifted it again."  
  
--  
  
Gippal awoke hours before the ship landed, and spent the time walking around the AirShip. When it finally did land, he grabbed his Machina weapons and slid them under his Ambassador robe.   
  
As he walked towards the main exit, Sha'ra and Buddy, each dressed for the occasion, flanked his sides.   
  
Outside the ship, the air was hot and dry, sucking the moisture from the trio's mouths. They were met by the palace guards, which were lead by a large, ugly man with a rotting tooth and an affinity towards his curved sword in his belt.  
  
They were led through the city by the guards and were watched by scared and curious people. Many peeked through their shutters out of a slightly open door. All wore tattered, dirty cloths that the poor wore. Their faces were full of worry and hope: worry for if the Heartless were to return and hope that the Al Bhed had some sort of solution for their problems. Street peddlers bowed to Gippal, making him grin from vain while Sha'ra and Buddy nodded their heads to the people. Buddy paused once, when a dark haired girl ran to him and, while blushing, gave him a scarf she had made herself. He smiled and gave her thanks, and she ran off back into her home.  
  
After a bit of walking, they passed into the wealthier part of Agrabah. The girls, women and children bowed and waved to the travelers, something that amused Gippal to no end, and caused Sha'ra to slap Buddy's arm in jealously when another woman stopped him and thanked him for giving their people an opportunity to be safe again.   
  
Like the Al Bhed women, The wealthy Agrabanian women dressed little, as to escape the heat. Only here, their outfits were adorned with flashy colors and gems and the wearers were thin little women with dark skin and bright smiles. Sha'ra self examined herself as she watched other women flirt from windows to the brothers. She was well enough muscled so that she was built almost like a boy, but she still had the figure of a woman...just not the figure of the bronze skinned women.  
  
In a short while, they reached the palace gates, which were wide open for the first time since before the Heartless attacked. There were extra guards there, surrounding the short, plump man standing in the center of the door way. On his right and slightly behind, there was another woman in a small blue top and 'puffy' blue pants. To his left, a tall man wearing a cream tunic and breeches, much like the guards, but he did not seem to be a part of them. He even had the brown sash that served as a belt that held his own sword close to his body. His hair was unkempt, as if he had done some fighting, and his eyes kept flickering to the girl in blue.  
  
Gippal, Buddy and Sha'ra stopped and bowed, then the three did the same. The party was quickly moved inside to a conference area. After Gippal had the room cleared of guards, the Sultan sat at the head of a long table. The boy-guard, sat on one side, and the blue-clad girl sat on his other. Gippal, Buddy and Brother sat in the same fashion. Gippal, smiled at the girl in blue, who turned her head away to the man across from her, making her long braid flick over her shoulder. Gippal grinned, then pressed his fingertips together and smiled at the Sultan.  
  
"So, tonight the final correspondence will commence for the betterment of Spira, correct?" Gippal asked with a smile. He asked the question, but his tone was commanding. This WOULD be the last meeting. The Sultan had held out 4 years too long, costing it's people more lives and more and more of the world slid away, for whatever lay beyond the Cave of Wonders was merely sand, and sand cannot hold together on it's own.  
  
Yes..." The Sultan said slowly.   
  
"Father..." Princess Jasmine interjected, narrowing her eyes at Gippal. The blonde smiled as innocently as possible. She turned to face her father again, but he nodded.  
  
"Jasmine is worried about the agreement between our worlds, just like me," the youth burst out. The Sultan tried to calm both with kind words and smiles, but Aladdin and Jasmine felt something was wrong.  
  
"The agreement would not need to be like this if the Sultan had...listened to us previously." Gippal said carefully. "Now the measures are more desperate, and neither of our worlds can stand the loss of the other, and both are needed to rebuild our world."  
  
"So, what do you need of us?" Jasmine snapped. The Sultan took his daughter's hand as the ground shook.  
  
"Jasmine, you must not get angry! You left Hollow Bastion to make the shield for this conference. If you feel too much, then your shield will disappear and we may not be able to get you back!" the Sultan whispered hoarsely. Gippal smiled a bit at this, as if he heard 'be a good little girl'. Jasmine frowned, then closed her eyes. The ground stopped moving as her breathing calmed. Aladdin looked over at Jasmine, a bit worried, then smiled when she opened her eyes.  
  
"Because of the dire situations, Sultan, Agrabah may need to house injured Al Bhed fighters, and the Cave of Wonders will provide metal for weapons and armor. Also, Agrabah will relinquish all governmental powers in the future Spira for protection against the Heartless and other enemies."  
  
"So, for giving up everything we have, you'll protect us against a few Heartless?" Aladdin snapped, standing quickly and knocking his chair back. Buddy frowned and looked up at him.  
  
"As I recall, you personally called upon the Al Bhed to rescue you, the palace guards and the Knights of Ramond from a small hoard of Heartless. The Knights were beyond rescue and you were treated for your wounds for a year, correct?" He asked. Aladdin frowned and balled his hands into fists.  
  
"And didn't your Knights, Guards and yourselves outnumber the Heartless nearly 20 to 1?" Sha'ra asked. Aladdin sat down in his chair slowly. Agrabah was indeed weak after Sora left. In the palace's pride, they did not ask for his help until a majority of guards had perished fighting Kurt Ziza. After Sora left, new guards weren't trained as well or as fast as the previous ones, mostly because the youths had been killed fighting Heartless or taken and shaped into Shadows and Soldiers.  
  
"Also," Gippal said, to add insult to injury, "your few fighters must battle with close range weapons, one on one. Didn't you tell me before, Aladdin, that you would not have made it through the Cave of Wonders if it weren't for Donald and Sora's magic to stretch across long distances to you enemies before they even detected you? Or was it a lie to make the KeyBlade wielder seem more mystical and legendary then before?" There was a moment of silence before Aladdin mumbled a 'no'. Gippal grinned and slapped his hands together.  
  
--  
  
The debate lasted hours, and it was dark when the Sultan finally signed the document, handing all of Agrabah to the hands of Gippal: sand, buildings, metal, and even people, all for the promise of protection.  
  
"Ah...soon we'll be at our full, one hundred and ten percent strength with Agrabah in our hands!" Gippal crowed, leaning far back into his AirShip seat, kicking his feet up on a stool. The Hypello milled around, serving drinks and complimenting Gippal in their odd speech.  
  
"You make Shpia shtrong, yesh?" asked one, wearing a green bow tie. Gippal drank his shot and handed it to the Hypello.  
  
"Yes, yeah I will!" Gippal said, then laughed. Sha'ra rolled her eyes and went back to navigating the ship. After internally debating, Buddy went to sit with her. Other crew members, all Al Bhed, milled around the ship, drinking in their celebration. Buddy waved at them, then sat on the ground and rested his head on Sha'ra's arm. Irritated, she shoved him away.  
  
"Just trying to be friendly..." he grumbled, turning to put his back towards her. He heard Sha'ra curse in Al Bhed.  
  
"Don't you think it's wrong we are stripping an entire world of the few things it has? I mean, what do we need everything for?" she asked, only loud enough for Buddy to hear.  
  
"We need to get as many allies as we can in case a war breaks out. That's what caused the Heartless to attack Spira in the first place: the War. If we make as many allies as we can, Nooj will make his peace with his allies and so will Baralai, then the three of them can settle any disputes between our 'pieces' and we can combine them again!"  
  
"And how will our worlds join together?" Sha'ra snapped. "By melting all of the gold in the Cave of Wonders and using it as some sort of glue?" she snapped angrilly. Buddy sighed and shook his head and left.  
  
– – – – – – – – – – –   
  
Thanks to Kawaii Keiko for suggesting this chapter takes place in Agrabah.


	15. Problems

By: The Babs  
  
Story: Sora's Fate: Chapter 15  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, unless they are original.

Sora was down below. I didn't see him. I felt him, as if he were a part of me. He was like a beam of sunlight on my skin. It was warm on 'Riku's' skin where he felt Sora to be, and he could feel it move over his skin, but he was furious that he could not envelop himself in this warmth so much that he wanted to be far from it...or kill it.  
  
He felt Sora...no....the True Light...turn it's face up to him. He...the True Dark...tried to open his eyes...but Light's ambiance was too bright for him, so he pushed off on his human legs and floated into the Unknown. He felt the area around him shift, but he couldn't see it...Light had touched everything, and it hurt his eyes to open them. He would trust that his woman...the Light Princess...may take pity on him so he may use her.  
  
Oh, the danger he put the Princess in when he is trying to protect her....the one he once wanted for his own...  
  
--  
  
I saw Sora stumble towards us. He was pale, but looking happier than I have ever saw him. I ran to him, ignoring Brother and Sora's two long-lost friends and–I kissed him. It felt like he was gone for an eternity, although it was for a few hours. I know Brother hates our relationship, but there is nothing I can do. I fell in love hard with Sora, although I wasn't supposed to.  
  
In a moment, he parts from me and looks into the sky. There, a man with silver hair 'looked' down upon us with closed eyes, then launched himself into the sky without a word of curse, or a word of any other kind. He quickly disappeared into the sky just after parting with the solid building he stood on and I looked at Sora. He smiled down at me with his ocean blue eyes and kissed me again, but on the forehead. I tried to smile, but I was forced to bury my face in his bare chest and forced myself not to cry.  
  
God, it wasn't supposed to happen this way...he trusts me too much.  
  
--  
  
The ground under the soles of my boots was warm with Heat Light.  
  
Warm. Good warm, but too warm. It's beginning to hurt.  
  
I hear...cries...not human.

Tilting my head towards the endless blue sky, I heard the cries of gulls. Seagulls.

I run from the sun to a place I know is safe. I hear voices around me, calling my former name. I cannot greet them or acknowledge them, for If they know what I truly am, they can easily destroy me in my vulnerable state. My feet touch old, dead, dry wood, and I feel a bit better. There is a small chuckle of water falling from a small waterfall and I know I am but a few strides away from my goal. So close...

"Riku, you all right, ya?" I heard the host's friend Wakka ask. I jerked in pain as his warm hand touched my bare skin. He gasped. "You're cold man! You sick?" he asked. I can sense the worry coming from his heart, yet I am too weak to sap it's energy as of yet. I push myself away and mutter the Princess's name. I need her. The hand removes itself and I heard running. He is gone and I stumble blindly into the cave.

The ground is moist and the walls are of cold, hard rock. Water drips from above, making a soothing drip-drip rhythm on the ground that a normal Human could never hear or truly appreciate.  
  
If only the Other Worlds could be like this.  
  
I remember...everything was like this. Calm, cold, soothing, rhythmic sounds, decay...darkness.  
  
I lie on my back and can finally open my eyes. Unable to help myself, I take a sharp gasp.  
  
Everything...was different. I knew where I was, but it was in reverse: the dark that I had found uncomfortable, even scary (although I'd never admit that aloud) in my youth seemed more inviting that the bright day sky that I could see through the opening in the top of the cave. As I think this, I can feel my body moving from the light. Within seconds, I cannot see the sky without fully moving my body again, but the light still poured itself in. It was beginning to hurt more and more.  
  
It hurt! It seared! Where was my cherished one? Why wasn't she here? She should feel my pain! The Light and it's damned intrusion! Bring back the quiet! The decay! The everlasting darkness!  
  
--  
  
"All you have to do is make the one who wields the KeyBlade think that you are in love with him. Madly in love. Throw yourself at him, sleep with him, whatever it takes to get him on our side!" This is what Gippal told me nearly four years ago when the Agrabah Contract first fell through, after he learned of Sora's magic. Brother was there. He was furious at the time, but later he realized how important my role was.  
  
We needed someone of great influence to them to talk the Agrabanians over to our side. We thought Sora's influence would be enough to make them agree. It seems that just _finding_ Sora was just as hard as making the Sultan agree to even see the contract, which took a full year each time.  
  
I remember being angry at Gippal. What type of woman did he think I was? I think I yelled at him after he showed me the skimpy outfit. I know I slapped him, cried and reminded him of who nursed him back to health when he was first attacked by the Heartless. He said that this was the reason we needed the Contract, to keep this from happening to anyone else. Now it didn't seem necessary to wear something like this: Sora was kind and fell in love with me for me.  
  
I can't imagine what would happen if he found out he was being used in this world domination. These thoughts are the only thing separating me from sleeping next to Sora right now. Instead, I smooth out his hair, a few strands at a time. This is how he went to sleep hours ago. I can't get over everything, however. No matter how much I distract myself, I can only imagine his face when he first finds out. How will he find out? Will it be on the way to assist a dying world and distract him enough to kill him? Will it be on our wedding day, when the guilt is built so much that I never go to the altar? I stopped, this was stupid thinking! I looked down by my lap.  
  
He's sleeping so peacefully now. Whatever he went though before really took his energy, but he's smiling makes me happy.  
  
"Rikku?" I jump, then grin down at Sora.  
  
"Hey sleepyhead!" I can't stop teasing him. He's the only one who smiles when I do nowadays. Sora changed his position and pulled me down next to him. I grinned and snuggled myself into his arms and tickled his ribs. He laughed weakly, but still smiled at me.  
  
"Rikku, is something bothering you?" he asked. My heart stopped and my voice was gone. How did he know?  
  
"I'm just anxious about seeing the whole world reunited again." I lied with a grin. God, lying to him is getting harder and harder each time. If he finds out, gets angry and leaves...then I don't know what I will do...  
  
I giggled when he kissed my forehead. It was something my mother did before she died. I miss someone holding me like this...oh no....I can't cry....  
  
"Rikku?" Sora was worried and pulled me close. I told him about my mother. I didn't mean to, it just spilled out. Nearly twice I slipped about the setup between us, although I don't know how we got from my mother to talking about us. It's getting harder to keep the truth from him. I may need to see Gippal again, but Sora is holding me so close when I cry, I don't want to leave his arms...I just want to cry until I have no more tears and just lie in his arms...forever.  
  
--  
  
The Princess of Heart is nearby, but others are holding her back. She hears me calling to her Heart, but she is hesitant. She wants...hopes it is the True Light. I can feel her yearning for him from my hiding place, and it makes this place much colder, in a bad way, not the good way I've felt since I hid here.  
  
The Warm Light is leaving, and the Dark is coming in. I can now leave, but I do not wish to be found. Now that the Warm Light is leaving and there are less humans around the Princess, she can feel my calling even more...  
  
...but she's walking away. No! She is to be mine if the True Light refuses her! If he goes to the Deciever....  
  
I reach out, out to her Heart. I see it! It is bright, pulsing, warm... and I wrap my cold fingers around her Heart...  
  
...and they slip through! No, not all the way...her Soul is immune to me right now...but I have her Devotion...which is mixed with Love.  
  
I tugged on these parts of her Heart, pull her closer to me, and I finally feel her running towards me. My little poppet, being pulled by the Heartstrings I control.  
  
Within moments, she is in my arms, lips touching mine. It is curious that this is so important to humans, but her love strengthens the longer the kiss holds. I release my hold on her Heart, but I conjured a creature in my mind while luring her here, and it crawls into her body and makes it's home there. Suddenly, I feel sadness welling up inside her. I rolled over on her and kissed her roughly. She squeaked in protest, but the creature inside her silenced her noise.  
  
The Heartless I had created in the bosom of the Princess is working to my specifications: the Princess shall hate the True Light so much that she will refuse to assist the worlds into rejoining to make one world.  
  
And she will be my Queen of the Heartless, with the light locked behind the door behind us and dead and dying worlds before us.  
  
I take her hand, and she is scared and confused. Where is her sudden dislike for the True Light coming from? Where was Sora?  
  
...Sora...the mortal name of the True Light...I informed her, loved another with all of his Heart. I gave her a mental image of the scantily clad blonde in her mind, with her thin arms wrapped around Sora and her fighting along side him. I even let her see my mortal memories–those I let her see– and she pushes Sora away in tears a small bit at a time.

All is well, I am a patient man. I haven't slept for 200 years idly, I've been planning.

The creature slides into her belly where another creature lies. It's been there for some time, and I feel a warmth in my chest. How fitting that the Princess of Heart, my puppet, be bearing my child before I even got to her.

A child destined to rule the Heartless. I stroke her bell and encourage it to grow. The Princess's eyes fly open as she feels the movement in her, but I assist her to stand and turn her body to the back of the cave.

The Door is Open.  
  
Now we go, we go through the door I had open. I will introduce her to my siblings Payne and Panik, and we will be together, the Elements of Heartless with the power of a Princess of Heart.  
  
Absolute victory is ours.


	16. Heartless Story

"Who are you, and what do we need to do?" he asked. I was startled that Sora accepted me so quickly into his being. It had barely been a mere day since we merged, but he was aware that there was a separate, sentient being sharing his body.

"I am Ceres," I responded. "The True Light which is meant to fight the Heartless." I knew what would come next:

"Who is with Riku?" I smiled in spite of myself. He had said 'who' and not 'what'. To me, this meant that he truly had a worthy heart to fight the beings of darkness.

"Nox," I responded. "The True Darkness." I said no more, because I knew it would distress him. Even now, four months later, I do not tell him who else is with his mortal friend. In the name of the Light, I do not want to lose my grip on his body to be shoved out of his being and remain vulnerable to the Dark. I need a shell, and this one was born to be it.

--

It's dark here. Blinding dark except for Riku, who I can see clearly, and a few feet ahead to see the path. Every day, Riku makes me walk a bit farther, and every day it seems to get darker. I believe I could see better with my eyes closed instead of straining them to see the light at the end of the tunnel, or wherever we are heading. It gets harder to walk every day with the baby growing inside of me. I am now at the point where I am waddling more than walking. I wanted to tell Riku about the baby in the beginning, but he already knew somehow, and his reaction scared me. He seem happy, even overjoyed when I told him, but the cold Darkness pressed around me and I could even feel it in my belly. Now, as I think this, I rub the baby in a circular motion. It's beginning to kick around, which makes me happy, but not enough so that I forget where I am.

Riku is but a few yards ahead, and every time I think of him, he stops and turns around, like he is doing now, walks to me and...

"Kairi." Riku walked to her and held her close in his arms, then kissed her roughly. Kairi squeaked and the baby kicked harder inside her. Riku, still maintaining the kiss, send a small flow of darkness into Kairi, and her belly began to swell two inches out and around. Once the baby was five months, he could risk sending more energy into her to make the baby the true heir to the Heartless. Kairi whimpered and broke the kiss when she felt her stomach expand.

"Stop!" I whimpered, shoving myself away. Riku looked down at me with his cold eyes and grinned.

"Kairi," he started, taking a step towards me. I backed up, but I felt like my front had gained another twenty pounds. It hadn't, but something was bringing me down. I was surprised I didn't tip over by now. I had seen women carrying one child within them, and I looked like I was carrying twins in comparison. At least I felt it. There was nothing on which to see my reflection, but Riku claims I am as beautiful as the day he met me. Suddenly, my heart beats faster and I want to run. Where is Sora? I want to go to him! I want this child to be his! Just then, I realized I was screaming these words and felt Riku's cold fingers around my throat. I raised my eyes into his as breathing became hard.

"You are mine now! You were destined to be hundreds of years ago and again today!" He shook me and I felt daggers of energy come from his hand into me, into my blood, boiling it.

I screamed, the baby kicked, he yelled, the baby grew...

---

For four months we have been to each world that was once the whole of Spira. I was amazed at how peoples faces would light up when they saw my shell Sora walk through the streets. He smiled, waved and talked to people, as was his nature, and I wondered how he was originally thought to be the one to fall into Darkness. From my time with him, looking into his memories, he was nothing but pure light. I can even relax my grip on him and allow myself to grow. He knows what I am doing, I think he knows that he can block me out of some parts. I can tell he doesn't want me to spy on the times he and Rikku were together, which is amusing.

But my conscience is begging...no...ordering me to tell him of her deception.

Deception...what an interesting word I used. Others would say lies. Could she be the Deceiver, the one who pitted Nox and I against each other? No, the Deceiver never worked out in the open...I sighed inwardly, and I felt Sora's mind probing me, trying to make me feel better. Within moments, we were both lost in ocean spay and crying seagulls.

Sora was like a child. One that had to be taught that the world wasn't bright and . Since I came to him, he has been uplifted by the power I hold and has lost a grip with reality: he has forgotten the pain he endured in the bowels of Twilight City, of being thrashed by the one you trusted and left for dead. The forgot what if felt like to be wrung of your strength in the morning and having to continue working through the day so you could get you meager night's meal.

Now his mind is spinning, and I was caught off guard and nearly spilled my secrets in his unguarded mind. Sora's arms were wrapped tightly around Rikku and they were in a deep embrace. Every day, the girl seems to tug him more into the bed, but Sora won't give in completely. Never once has he removed his vest, or asked her to do so. He wants this to last, but I cannot allow it. I cannot let the Deceiver ruin Spira again.

As if I had whispered this into his ear, he lay next to Rikku, breaking off the kiss, yet he held her in his arms. They were talking, with frequent and welcomed breaks. His mind is spinning more and I fear if I allow this more, then he'll consent into her and forget his mission.

It had to be now. I should have done it earlier, before they became too serious, but it will be worse if I wait another second.

I slipped into his sub-conscience, and insert a few key questions into his mind, then retreat before he senses my intrusion.

--

"Rikku..." I paused, breaking off the kiss with Rikku. She relaxed, rested her head on my pillow and looked into my eyes with her beautiful emerald swirls. I smiled and almost lost myself in them, but there was a question nagging in the back of my mind. "Do you love me?" I asked, propping myself up by my elbow. She looked startled, then laughed and tried to kiss me. There was another question that kept me from leaning into the kiss.

"You've been lying to me about something," I heard myself accuse. I sucked in a breath quickly. Why did I say that? Rikku, don't cry!

"Sora..." she whimpered. What was she holding back? I asked. Within the next hour, amid tears and pleads, Rikku poured out everything to me. I heard from why Gippal wanted Spira to be reunited, to her part in the plan to seduce me and all of Gippal's plan that she knew of to gain control of the new Spira. And after they were done with me? I had the options of being in monitored stasis to be re-awoken if the Heartless returned, be an experiment for my powers or dying to the amusement of all.

And Rikku? I hear her crying to me, that she loved me, that she never wanted harm to come to me, she as going to make Gippal change his plans for me.

Then it hit me. Nearly everyone I had met was using me and had lied to me. Rikku, Cid, Brother, Gippal, Buddy, Nooj, Baralai...even King Mickey and Auron to an extent...

Who can I trust? Who has been true to me the entire time I knew them? I knew Ansem never lied, but he was one of the last options I could take. Wakka, Tidus, Yuna and LuLu. I loved those four, but I was fighting for them, I couldn't risk their Hearts in a fight. That left Donald and Goofy...and I had pushed them away since Rikku.

I stood suddenly, startling Rikku who was crying that I was ignoring her. Looking down at her now, I saw nothing but lies in her eyes. Her skimpy clothes made me feel shallow and her tears made me feel angry. Each tear coming from her green eyes represented each lie I had believed ever since I had gotten the KeyBlade.

"Sora, please forgive me..." she begged, clinging to my vest. Her body shook with each sob. She was sorry. A sorry creature who was potentially killing thousands of beings by distracting me. The Centigrade's repairs were probably fake, as fake as Cid's laugh and Brother and Rikku's arguments. All used to feed the sucker, and I ate it all up.

Walking out of the room, I don't feel angry. I feel betrayed and stupid.

"I'm sorry that I didn't do this earlier Sora." Ceres apologized. For what? For helping me see the truth? For making me realize how easy it is to be blinded by a kiss and a promise?

"I want the whole truth Ceres," I said aloud. People stared at me as I walked down the hall to the garden of Wonderland. The gardens were as beautiful as ever and the Queen was running around, trying to find work for the stray cards to do while threatening to cut their heads off at any mistake. For a brief moment, I wondered crazily how she would fair against the Heartless if given a large enough ax, then I shuddered and thought that the Shadows, those Heartless who are still connected to humans, didn't deserve that treatment.

"I'm glad you still see humor," he said using my voice. He made it sound deeper, and yet I didn't object to him using my voice. So what if it changed when we talked? At least I could hear the truth with my ears, which I think he knew I wanted.

"I won't survive will I?" I asked suddenly. I felt Ceres stiffen in my mind and I smiled. No one thought that I would cut to the chase so quickly. I never did so before, but hearing everything from Rikku...it made me think about my future if I survived the fight against the Heartless.

---

"I don't think your conscience mind will make it to the final battle." I said. Sora was silent, while his mind was spinning faster than ever. After a moment, a place came into mind. It was hard to get to, and had a picture that transported a person into an upside-down room. In one corner of this squared away place, was a string of bell flowers that gave out magick restorer balls when struck with lightning. The other flora changed season by season, although at the moment, Sora nor I could remember what was currently there.

I left his mind alone as he guided us through the maze of grass walls and tall flowers, up trees and down vines. Flashes of red, yellow and stretches of green were all that registered in Sora's mind. He seemed to be counting the colors, and before I realized it, our right foot splashed into the painting. I was about to panic, but Sora had already regained his balance and was shaking out his foot. When he was satisfied that it was dry enough, he sat and closed his eyes.

"Tell me everything. The initial War, the Heartless, what happens to me, Riku and Kairi, everything!" He ordered this to me in the calmest and kindest manner possible, and if I were standing before him I would have reeled at his calm anger.

--

"The Heartless aren't as old as you or anyone else thinks. Even Merlin believes they are ancient, but I believe I am older then them." I laughed dryly at the misconception and at Sora's confusion. "I was about your age, even a bit younger...when they were first created. They were odd puppets or an odd show made by an odd man. The first Heartless he made were the Shadows, the Soldiers and the Green Requiems, Red Nocturnes, Blue Rhapsodys and the Yellow Operas. They were characters in the odd man's play, and were essentially living puppets. He somehow had a connection to them that allowed them to make the play more realistic. I heard he went insane with only being able to control creatures that had no real emotions or minds of their own. The Heartless, feeling his yearnings, went out of control and ravaged a part of the village the man worked in, then hid in their cases as lifeless dolls. When the villagers came, the crazed man said that his dolls would no longer dance, much less destroy.

From then, during the cover of the night, he had his revenge on all of those that had wronged him. People began to fear and hate him, and even began to pay him to keep his puppets away. Their fear and hatred began to fuel the puppets, making their power stronger and live longer. One night, they assaulted the daughter of the sheriff who was the last to believe the tales of the living dolls, even though he saw the destruction they wrought, but after his daughter found the case where a Soldier lay, with a piece of cloth from her skirt in hand, then sheriff took the man into custody.

The man ranted and raved that his puppets would avenge him, but as soon as he was gone, people's anger and fear of the puppets began to dissipate. Soon, he was a public mockery and his house was destroyed. Oddly enough, the puppets were saved and a souvenir for the sheriff, who put them in his dining hall. His daughters carved large hearts into the chests of the Soldiers and her father crossed the Hearts with his sword for practice. The smaller puppets were colored on by the girls, and poked fun of until one night when the man escaped.

No one knew how he had escaped. He had used all of the money he extorted into buying more wood for puppets, but where he made these puppets no one knew. There wasn't a single coin to be found in his home. His house was searched thrice over, as well as the puppets the sheriff commandeered.

While the town was awake in search for the man, the sheriff's daughters were wide awake in their rooms, listening to their brother, who was barely a year older, tell them tales of princes on white horses who carried good girls away to tall white castles to be their brides, and of the brave battles the princes would fight for them. This, however, did not make the girls feel better, and their fear mounted, just like the fear of the villagers. The boy, sleepy and tired of hearing his sisters complain, left the room and blew out the candle that served as their light.

The girls huddled together on one bed and whimpered, while the older reached out in the darkness for a puppet to hug. She waved it back and fourth over her dresser, but the puppet was gone. Turning her head to look, she could not see more than inches in front of her in the darkness until the room was illuminated with red-orange light, making both girls scream in terror.

The puppet master, fully knowing that he would be hiding from the world because of his creations, set a deadly trap in his house which finally went off and caught his whole home on fire. The sheriff, the firemen crew and his officers rushed forward to move the villagers away, but the sheriff heard his daughters, and left for home as fast as he could run.

The girls fell off of the bed as a pair of red eyes glared at them. It was the first Soldier they cut a heart into. He was that recognizable, for he was the first puppet the puppet man had made, and was the largest one to date. He emitted a low growl from his throat and took an awkward step towards the girls. They screamed again and bolted for the door, but were intercepted by Shadows who shoved them back into the light. They screamed in fear, and more puppets awake within the room and crowded around the girls, holding the door closed and drinking in their fear. The first puppet walked to the older girl, the one he attacked the first time, and placed his face over her mouth and inhaled deeply. The girl gargled and struggled, then fell to the ground crying hysterically. The puppets crowded around the Soldier now, forgetting about the younger girl and looked at the energy it had drained: the human Essence of Fear.

The puppets were in awe of this Essence, and curious. They had their creator's will to have free movement, so they all decided at once to grab the Fear. Their joined thoughts, despite this action, were becoming more dissipated. As they came in contact with the girl's Fear, their wooden bodies began to warp, bulge, and in the case of the lantern shaped puppets, began to soften and float and became living. The Soldiers now had real metal armor to protect themselves, the Shadows had claws and arms strong enough to drag away victims, and the rest had their magic to torture the villagers.

The sheriff burst into the room then, and first saw his eldest daughter crying in the middle of the floor. The newly formed Heartless had hid, sensing his arrival, and awaited for a leader to come forth. The Soldier stepped forward and tapped the sheriff's shoulder, then as the man turned, hit him in the chest with an open hand. The sheriff, a man who was not at all skinny, flew into the wall, leaving an indentation. The Heartless came forward now to him, growling and showing off their new real-ness to him. The man spat and cursed at them, feeding them his hate. The Soldier tilted his head to the side, then moved close to the man as he did to the daughter and inhaled sharply over the man's face.

Out came the Fear again, familiar and new at the same time, but now there was something different, something....infinite. The heartless were confused and sought out their master, who was working on his creation in secret. They held out the Essence to him, and the Puppet Master grinned.

'So,' he said. 'You found what makes every human tick. Their infinite hate for one another. It's whats been feeding you this whole time,' he said. 'Take it, consume it, let it be a part of your being!' There was a scream as the other Heartless dropped the sheriff to the ground before their master. The master grinned and kicked the sheriff hard, then looked at the Heartless. 'Consume him!' Then there was a pause as he looked at the hearts carved and drawn on his puppets. 'No...take away the last thing that keeps him human. Take his Heart!'

The Heartless could barely contain themselves, and all at once they were grabbing for the man, clawing at him while simultaneously absorbing his Fear and Hate as he emitted these emotions. The Puppet Master cackled as the man cried in agony, then stretched a hand out into his body.

'Give it up! Give them your Heart so your children shall live!' the Master threatened. The sheriff screamed, then went limp. For a moment nothing, happened, yet the Heartless kept clawing. Presently, a small, pink orb floated from the man. The Puppet Master shook his hand furiously, and it manifested from a small pink orb into a small, fat, pathetic excuse for a Heartless. The Puppet Master tisked, then nodded his head at the others. They all quickly ravaged the new Heartless, then headed back to the village. The Puppet Master laughed, not knowing that his first Soldier was watching him from above.

-

Dark, Darker, Darkest, Deepest hate that I feel growing within me. It's so strong that were I a human, I could barely contain it.

It was wonderful.

With all of this energy, I bombarded my chosen mate, and watched her wither under the Darkness. There was no need to send her Fear, since she had enough of her own. I felt the energy run through the Heartless, through me, into Kairi. The dying cries of hundreds of creatures whose lives were cut short, or worlds collapsing on themselves into the darkness. Endless energies all directed at her Heart, mind, and child. He watched Kairi as she panted heavily on the ground, clawing and coughing and gasping.

"Kairi," he said, getting down on one knee. Kairi stopped gasping as hard and lifted her head somewhat. Her eyes could see up to Riku's ankle, but her hair was now long enough to touch the ground. Riku lifted her chin so she could look into his eyes and held them with an icy stare. "Sora?" he asked, keeping his words minimal and devoid of emotion. He was testing to see how his power reacted within the princess. Her eyes widened in anger and hate, and she absolutely growled in a strange manner:

"We hates him, yes, we hates him and his Light! It burns us! Bring us to the Dark!" She growled and whimpered at the same time, eliciting a triumph in Riku that he could not contain. He picked up Kairi and held her in his arms as if they were newlyweds, spun for a moment, and then carried her down the long, descending path.

---

"Then?" Sora asked, processing everything he had learned so far in his mind. He could clearly see the newly made Heartless pillage the unsuspecting village and starting fires on anything and everything.

"Then, they went back for the girls. The son was there, trying to rouse his sister with little success. The second was behind him, acting as a scout. The son, unbeknownst to his father, was an apprentice of a magician, and had learned some rudimentary healing spells which he worked on his sister...."

"Cece, please hurry! I want to go find Papa!" the sister cried, tugging her brother's shirt. The boy sighed in weary and exasperation.

"I can't do everything by myself, nor at once! I need to heal Lilah first, Sara!" he snapped at her. The younger sister, Sara, whimpered and ran to her bed and hid under the covers. Cece, or Ceres, sweated heavily while he crouched over his sister, trying to make her wake. Sora found earlier that he could walk through Cere's memories and did so now. He was amazed that after over a hundred years, he could still remember the faces of his younger sisters and their play room, and how little Sarah wore her blonde hair in a bun on the back of her head at night. Pitying the young boy who was hopelessly trying to help his sister, Sora kneeled and touched her forehead.

"Curaga" he whispered, knowing fully well that it wouldn't work. Ceres said nothing as the green power flowed from Sora's hand. The young Ceres look up suddenly, right at Sora. Sora stared back at the boy in pity, then realized that the boy could see him. As both stared at one another, they were aware of three things: Sara was hiding in her covers, so she could not verify Ceres's sanity, Lilah was stirring and the third, another Heartless was in the room.

Sora spun to face the Heartless, but the Green Requiem was faster than Sora had previously remembered and anticipated and cast a spell too late and too close to himself and the children. He fell back and passed right through the wall and fell the ground three flights below. Opening his eyes slowly, he realized that he was no longer 'real' in the dream, and floated back into the room.

"Cece, don't cry for me," Lilah said in a soft voice. Sora assumed he had missed much in the fall, but listened as Ceres cried out to his sister and screamed. It was like a nebula of power in the room. All of the positive energy that the Heartless neglected to take from the girl was attempting to mix with the energy the Heartless stole from her.

"I'll be okay! I promise!" she assured as she turned to get a glance of Sora. He gasped and sidestepped from her view, but saw her smile slightly. "But you must do something for me Cece, promise!" Ceres wiped his eyes an nodded.

Sora watched in keen interest as Lilah made Ceres promise to defend the people form the Heartless and to find a way to lock them away. But not to kill. Ceres asked her why, why not kill the beasts that took her from him?

"Because, these creatures have a part of me in them. And they have Papa and everyone else in the village. If you hurt them, you hurt us all, even though there will be a time where even destroying a Heartless will be necessary. But by then, I will be so far gone within them, that I will not be hurt by their destruction. Right now, they hold my fear and Papa's hate. Hurry, grab Papa's sword before they come for you and Sara!" she cried as the Heartless reentered the village. Ceres nodded and ran from the room, but quickly returned so that Sora assumed that Ceres was training to be a warrior of some kind.

"Lilah, I won't disappoint you." he vowed. Lilah smiled, then closed her eyes and spread her arms. Sora and Ceres shielded their eyes as Lilah's hair flared out from it's hold and her body shone in a bright light. Sara squealed in fear under her covers, and went to the window to look outside for danger with this new light. Ceres nearly dropped his sword in wonder as the miniature green Heartless and his sister fused together into one new being.

"A White Mushroom." Ceres explained. Sora suddenly felt disconnected from the events and looked around. He was back in Wonderland, and his back was incredibly sore from being hunched over. He coughed from dehydration and frantically looked for something to cast Water in for a drink when a shallow bowl was placed in his hands. Sora took it and drank greedily, then looked at the person who handed it to him. Next to him was Goofy, and then there was a third person.

"Ceres?" Sora asked numbly, then fell over on his side.

"Easy there Sora." Ceres said, amused. "I was threatened by Donald to come out. You were out for a while because I had to show them everything I showed you."

"What happened?" Sora asked. "The boy, he saw me, I healed the girl!" He sputtered. Ceres smiled.

"I had been gathering energy for this for ages. Without brining you to the past, there would have never been the first White Mushroom, the only Heartless who does not thrive on the Hearts of others and who actually assists to defeat the other Heartless. I couldn't have helped you go further because I could only keep you there long enough to heal my sister and cast your muddled spell that actually created the White Mushroom."

Sora was silent for a moment.

"So, I am used in a War to fight the Heartless, bring Spira together to be pitted in a civil war which Gippal plans to rule in the end, run to the past and create a Heartless that gets orders from no one?" Ceres nodded slowly, and was quiet when Sora rubbed his temples.

"Okay, where do I start with helping Spira?" Sora asked after a moment to himself.

"We need to talk to that 'Gippal' guy!" Donald said, jumping to his webbed feet. Sora began to smile and Donald went on his usual rant, hopping to one foot to the other and threatening to cast various spells on the young man. Ceres, feeling Sora was more at ease, silently requested permission to enter his body again.

'You never told me where Kairi was.' Sora accused as he followed Goofy out of the gardens.

'Do you really want to know now, or possibly see her later?' Ceres asked. Sora opted for the latter, and spoke to Cid about the new owner of the airship.


End file.
